My boss will go ballistic if we miss this deadline.
go ballistic
idiomTo become very angry and irrational.
Origin
disputed originThe idiomatic usage derives from the second-generation of jet fighters, armed with guided missiles, in the late 1950s into the 1960s, with the informal military sense of fully-powered non-ballistic missiles going ballistic when losing control and assuming a free-fall trajectory, sense 3. But in subsequent usage the term has often become associated with the intentionally ballistic, suborbital trajectories of long-range, typically nuclear-armed missiles, sense 2.
When he saw the deep scratch on his new car, he went ballistic in the parking lot.
The manager went ballistic upon discovering that the entire project budget had been squandered on unnecessary equipment.
- 01
all dressed up and nowhere to go
Elaborately attired or otherwise fully prepared for an anticipated situation or activity which, nevertheless, fails to occur.
- 02
all systems go
Everything is ready.
- 03
as you go
While one is doing (something); as one progresses.
- 04
ballistic podiatry
The act of shooting oneself in the foot.
- 05
boldly go where no man has gone before
To break new ground.
- 06
come and go
To repeatedly appear and disappear; to be transient.
- 07
don't go there
Do not broach that topic.
- 08
easy come, easy go
Easily won and easily lost (usually said when resigned to a loss; something that comes in the same way, goes in the same way)
Last updated April 17, 2026