go postal
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
go (in the sense "become") + postal; from a rash of incidents, mostly gun violence, perpetrated by disgruntled U.S. Postal Service workers on co-workers in the United States, beginning in the 1980s (see quotations)
[edit] Verb
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Third person singular |
Simple past |
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to go postal (third-person singular simple present goes postal, present participle going postal, simple past went postal, past participle gone postal)
- (intransitive, chiefly US, informal) To behave in a hysterical, angry or irrational manner.
- 1993 Vick, Karl “Violence at work tied to loss of esteem”, in the St. Petersburg Times, December 17, 1993.
- The symposium was sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, which has seen so many outbursts that in some circles excessive stress is known as “going postal.” Thirty-five people have been killed in 11 post office shootings since 1983.
- 1993 Vick, Karl “Violence at work tied to loss of esteem”, in the St. Petersburg Times, December 17, 1993.
[edit] Translations
behave in a hysterical, angry or irrational manner
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