go postal
To become aggressive and erratic, especially due to stressTo become aggressive and erratic, especially due to stress; specifically, to carry out a shooting spree at a workplace environment; also (more generally) to become very angry; to lose one's temper.
» This will be the thing that makes Tom go postal.
Meaning
1 senses(US, informal)To become aggressive and erratic, especially due to stress; specifically, to carry out a shooting spree at a workplace environment; also (more generally) to become very angry; to lose one's temper.
ausrasten
Examples
1 sentencesThis will be the thing that makes Tom go postal.
Translations
3 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
From go (“to become”) + postal (“relating to the collection, sorting and delivery of mail”From go (“to become”) + postal (“relating to the collection, sorting and delivery of mail”), from a number of incidents, mostly gun violence, perpetrated by disgruntled U.S. Postal Service workers on co-workers in the United States in the mid 1980s.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
goes postal, going postal, went postal, gone postal| Base form | go postal · to go postal |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | goes postal |
| Present participle | going postal |
| Past simple | went postal |
| Past participle | gone postal |
irregular · Lesson
Synonyms
54 synonymsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, irregular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle