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balloon goes up

phrase
/bəˌluːn ɡəʊ̯z ˈʌp/UK/bəˌlun ɡoʊ̯z ˈʌp/CA/bəˌlʉːn ɡəʉ̯z ˈɐp/

Etymology

Probably from the releasing of a balloon as a signal for an event to begin, possibly popularized by the use of balloons by the British Army during World War I (1914–1918) as a signal for artillery fire to commence.

Definitions

  1. Something exciting, risky, or troublesome begins.

    • — When is your job interview? — The balloon goes up at 10 tomorrow.
    • For quotations using this term, see Citations:balloon goes up.

  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see balloon, go, up.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for balloon goes up. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA