go n.1
1. as a measure or portion.
(a) (also goe) a measure (of alcohol), e.g. a go of gin; esp. a three-halfpenny bowl of gin and water, available at a go shop; also used of portions of food.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (3rd edn) n.p.: Go-shop, the Queen’s Head in Duke’s-court [...] where gin and water is sold in three-halfpenny bowls, called Goes. | |
| Sporting Mag. Apr. XVI 26/1: Called at a ken in the way home, drank four goes of brandy. | |
| Jack Randall’s Diary 21: Tom Trot [...] sung out ‘Jack, let’s take the shine Out of a Go of Deady’s gin’. | |
| Life of an Actor 72: Quite pleased so snug a shop to know, Where he could stop and take a go! | |
| ‘The Mot Of Drury Lane’ Luscious Songster 38: She guzzled fourteen goes of max. | |
![[Ire]](/static/img/flags/ire.png "Ireland") | Roscommon Jrnl 16 Sept. 2/1: He finished his ‘go’ of brandy and water. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Satirist & Sporting Chron. (Sydney) 11 Mar. 3/4: The landlord [...] says he has no idea of being roused out of his bed [...] for goes of brandy and ginger beer. | |
| Bell’s Life in Sydney 18 July 2/6: The luckless Quean rewarded the exploit with a go of jackey and became elevated. | |
 | Natural History of Ballet Girl 52: Waiters [...] take devilled kidneys to the guest who has ordered nothing but a go of gin. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Mysteries and Miseries of N.Y. IV 114: Better come out an’ take a go o’ rum, to settle your stummac! | |
| Pawnbroker’s Daughter 156: A blow out of ’ard snippins, and a go of gin-peppermint. | |
| Paved with Gold 186: Who’s for a go of brandy? | |
| Medical Student 20: After the second glass of stout and a ‘go of whisky,’ he becomes emboldened. [Ibid.] 33: A pewter ‘go’ which, if everybody had their own, would in all probability belong to Mr. Green. | |
| ‘Bet, the Coaley’s Daughter’ Overland Monthly (CA) Sept. 308: Two brimming quarts of porter, / With four full goes of gin beside, / Drained Bet, the Coaley’s daughter. | |
| London Life 7 June 6/1: [H]alf-goes of Old Tom are the order of the day. | |
| ‘Career of a Scapegrace’ in Leicester Chron. 10 May 12/1: A sham broken-down tradesman, the ‘grog blossoms’ on his nose betokening his fondness for ‘goes’ of ‘gin hot’. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 14 Nov. 14/2: It took on an average five hours to strike six drinks. None were permitted to take a base advantage of a front position by swallowing two or three ‘goes’ in succession. | |
| Fifty Years (2nd edn) I 216: One of our drummers [...] gave me a go of brandy. | |
| Pitcher in Paradise 141: Greedy, struggling market-porters all crying out [...] for ‘goes’ of coffee and gin, pints of mild and bitter. | |
| Cockney At Home 185: ‘I’ll make it ’arf-a-go,’ said the screever. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | On the Anzac Trail 154: Came back to poor breakfast. Could have done with a ‘go’ of rum. | |
| True Drunkard’s Delight. | |
| Fowlers End (2001) 126: To me he offered the bottle, saying: ‘Have a go’. | |
| ‘Sympathy in White Major’ High Windows 11: I drop four cubes of ice / Chimingly in a glass, and add / Three goes of gin. |
(b) a portion, ‘a time’; a dose of ill health.
| Brother Jonathan I 81: So steadily, would he rivet his large eyes, for half an hour at a ‘go’. | |
| in Stories the Soldiers Wouldn’t Tell (1994) 39: There aren’t any girls in this country except those that is strictly on the fuck for $5 a go. I take a snootful about once a month. | |
| Five Years’ Penal Servitude 221: What’s yer dose? [...] I’ve twelve this go. | |
| Venus in India I 37: I am hungry for another sweet go! I want this cunt! | |
![[Ind]](/static/img/flags/ind.png "India") | Civil & Milit. Gaz. (Lahore) 18 Oct. 4/3: Dear Bill :—l’m in dock, ’ere in Poona, / ’Ad enteric,—a precious bad go. | |
| Of Love And Hunger 197: You’re in for a go of malaria. | |
| (con. early 1950s) Valhalla 482: You simply had a bad go of it. | |
| Day of the Dog 18: Floyd’s cousin has become a homosexual and was getting two hundred dollars a go from old midnight cowboys in the Hay Street mall. | |
| Awaydays 8: Give us a go on that before these twats get on. | |
| Layer Cake 151: Most of them stick to the bottled water at four-fifty a go. | |
| ‘Broken’ in Broken 16: A thousand-dollar-a-go call girl. |
(c) a helping of food.
| Flash Mirror 6: Queering of a Duff Shop. — Going into an eating house, calling for a go of soup, prigging the knives and forks, pocketing the saltcellars [and] seizing a roll of duff, and paddling off scot-free. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 26 Sept. 6/2: They were at supper [...] and when he sent up his plate for the 13th ‘go’ of boned turkey, she remarked, ‘Jumbo, you eat too much.’ [...] It was a thoughtless speech to make, and the nickname was particularly disrespectful – to Barnum’s grand old elephant. | |
| Signor Lippo 97: What with that and the drinks, and a go of grub, I was stone broke. | |
| Sporting Times 8 Apr. 2/4: If you asked for a second ‘go’ of crushed strawberries, or another one o’ those arsenic cocktails, it would be brought to you on a silver salver. |
(d) (US drugs) a measure of drugs; an injection of a given drug.
| Opium Addiction in Chicago 196: Bindle. A very small quantity of drugs done up in paper. Sometimes referred to as a paper of stuff, a bird’s-eye, a deck, a go. | |
| ‘Lang. of the Und. Narcotic Addict’ Pt 2 in Lang. Und. (1981) 103/1: go. A ration of narcotics. Restricted to needle-addicts. | |
| Amer. Thes. Sl. | |
| Narcotics Lingo and Lore. |
(e) (US drugs) a very small quantity of drugs wrapped in paper.
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn). |
2. in the context of fashion, sophistication [SE go, spirit, energy, dash].
(a) the height of fashion.
| ‘Hobbies of the Times’ in Bullfinch 214: And so revers’d the go is now, / From what was once the gig, sir. | |
| Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: The Go. The fashion. Large Hats are all the Go. | |
| ‘Ladies’ Wigs’ in Hilaria 82: Perhaps as it is the kick and go, / You’ve mounted, ma’am, a merkin below? | |
| ‘Epistle from Tom Cribb to Big Ben’ in Morn. Chron. 31 Aug. 3: Is this the new go? — kick a man when he’s down! | |
| ‘The Soho Bazaar’ in James Catnach (1878) 194: The Bazaar in Soho is completely the go. | |
| Paul Clifford I 222: ’Mong the pals of the prince I have heard it’s the go, [...] To smarten their punch with the best curaçoa. | |
| ‘Never Cut Your Toe Nails On A Sunday’ Dublin Comic Songster 280: His dress was the pink of the fashion and go. | |
| Ely’s Hawk & Buzzard (NY) Aug. 31 n.p.: Flat foot reels — Virginia pidgeon wings and Kitefoot shuffles are the go . | |
| ‘The Dandy Broadway Swell’ Bryant’s Songs from Dixie’s Land 46: I’m the grit, the go, the cheese. | |
| Lays of Ind (1905) 21: But the case wasn’t so / In the days that are fled. / Merit wasn't the go; . Something else was instead. | |
| ‘Adultery’s the Go!’ in Pearl 3 May 24: Now all the wisest folks are lewd / For Adultery’s the go. / The go, the go, the go, / Adultery’s the go! | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 9 Oct. 14/4: The style is ‘all the go’ in England and ought to be adopted here. | |
| Robbery Under Arms (1922) 206: The Prospectors’ Arms became quite the go, and all the swell miners and quartz reefers began to meet there. | |
| Miss Nobody of Nowhere 268: He thinks his performance will be a ‘go’. | |
| New York Day by Day 28 Feb. [synd. col.] Dollar-to-two-dollar dinners, with a floor show and no cover charge, are the go. | |
| Doing Time 140: But now sneak attacks are more the go. | |
| (con. 1960s-70s) Top Fellas 17/1: At first, slightly flared trousers were the go. | |
| Thrill City [ebook] I don’t [like Elvis] [...] Acca Dacca’s the go, but the costume shop didn’t have Bon Scott. |
(b) a dandy, a fashionable man.
| Life in London (1869) 136: Tom [...] was the GO among the goes, in the very centre of fashion in London. |
(c) a wonderful person, esp. an attractive woman.
| ‘Marrying A Maid’ in Frisky Vocalist 7: The sight of her set the old blade a glow, / And he whisper’d, ‘My eyes, what an out-and-out go!’. |
3. (also goe) an event or state of affairs, usu. seen as exceptional or notable in some way and thus worthy of comment, e.g. ‘here’s a go’; also as rum go, an odd situation.
| Beggar Girl (1813) III 61: ‘There’s a go now!’ cried Miss, with a hoyden laugh. | |
| Pettyfogger Dramatized II i: The devil burn me, This is a goe! | |
| Sporting Mag. May XX 119/2: Tan’t an Englishman’s taste to have none of of these goes. | |
| Mornings in Bow St. 97: Rum go — had it [i.e. a cheque] last night, missed it ihis morning — d—d rum go! | |
| Doings in London 181: Every mop-squeezer in London is up to the most knowing go. | |
| Pickwick Papers (1999) 472: Here’s rayther a rum go, Sir. [Ibid.] 561: One expressed his opinion that it was a ‘rig,’ and the other his conviction that it was a ‘go’. | |
| Cockney Adventures 9 Dec. 45: ‘Here’s a go’ said Joe Pitman. [Ibid.] 47: I’m jiggered if it a’nt a rum go. | |
| ‘They Say I’m Too Little’ Dublin Comic Songster 40: In nine months she’d got – what a go – / Said I was its father, although -. | |
| ‘Epistle from Joe Muggins’s Dog’ in Era (London) 25 July 3/3: Oh! thought I, here’s a go — some one will be in the hole. | |
| Mysteries and Miseries of N.Y. III 114: Well, by thunder, this was a go! | |
| Bell’s Life in Sydney 12 Apr. 3/1: Here’s a go; boarded by pirates and no nettings up; where’s my cargo? | |
| Delhi Sketch Bk 1 May 51/1: ‘Zounds,’ cried the Rajah, ‘Here’s a go!’ . | |
| Six Days in the Metropolis 70: Here is a pretty go. How the devil can I go out to dine with a dirty shirt. | |
| Paved with Gold 270: That’ll be a pretty go tomorrow. | |
| ‘Strike of the Journeyman Tailors’ in Curiosities of Street Lit. (1871) 135: O wont it be a funny go / To see the swells in Rotten Row. | |
| Golden Age (Queenbeyan, NSW) 28 Aug. 3/4: Simpkins prepared to deliver his version of the ‘rummiest go’ he had met with in his chequered career. | |
| Man about Town 2 Oct. 29/3: As darkly looked he at the writs, / And muttered, ‘Here’s a go!’. | |
| Cruel London I 111: Yes, by Jove! it’s the rummest go out! | |
| Three Brass Balls 234: Well, I’m blest! Here’s a go! | |
| Bird o’ Freedom (Sydney) 7 Feb. 3/3: ‘O, crikey, here’s a go!’. | |
| in Truth (N.Y.) 21 Apr. in Stallman (1966) 32: By Jove, here’s a go! | |
| Sheaves from an Old Escritoire 86: Here’s a go [...] The toff’s lady is a treat [...] almost as tight as those two school misses we blocked last Monday! | |
| Round London 236: After Newmarket comes Goodwood, and then Cowes, which is the last ‘go’ of the year. | |
| Boy’s Own Paper 1 Dec. 131: ‘My word!’ he exclaimed. ‘Here’s a pretty go!’. | |
| Truth (Sydney) 28 Oct. 5/5: Serves him rite ? Well, that's a question / Some sez yes, and some sez no. / I, myself, decides the latter, / For it ware a dirty go. | |
| By Bolo and Krag 183: Here’s a go for your whiskers! | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 10 Dec. 20/3: ‘This is about the rummiest go ever I struck. To fancy me and you bein’ pally with a John! Wonders will never cease.’. | |
| Gem 4 Nov. 3: Nice go this is – I don’t think! | |
| Thirty-Nine Steps (1930) 85: It was a baddish go, and [...] it took me some time to get my legs again. | |
| Marvel 10 July 4: Rum go this! | |
| London Town 287: Here’s a pretty go. | |
| Shilling for Candles 153: ‘This is a rum go, sir’. | |
| Family from One End Street 135: Well, this was a queer go, thought Rosie. | |
| Battlers 100: ‘Anyone who likes to come,’ Sam Little shouted back as he moved away. ‘It’s an open go.’. | |
| Battle Cry (1964) 205: I told you you’d be in for a rough go. | |
| Hang On a Minute, Mate (1963) 26: The house itself was a fair enough go. | |
| (con. 1940s) Battle Lost and Won 307: The doctor, looking out, appeared to see the graves for the first time. ‘Rum go,’ he said. | |
| (con. 1964–8) Cold Six Thousand 173: Littel said he’d watch the next go. | |
| Intractable [ebook] [H]e’d stumbled onto a good go [...] They had been carefully working on an escape plan. | |
| (con. 1943) Coorparoo Blues [ebook] ‘What’s the go here?’ ‘[D]on’t worry, you’re not gone for a row of shithouses yet’. |
4. a success.
| ‘Flash Man of St. Giles’ in Musa Pedestris (1896) 75: We have mill’d a precious go / And queer’d the flats at thrums, E, O. | |
| ‘Sonnets for the Fancy’ Boxiana III 621: And thus they sometimes stagg’d a precious go. / In Smithfield, too, where graziers’ flats resort. | |
| Yorks. Gaz. 12 Dec. n.p.: That diddler in Greek loans, he’s not to be done, / No, Sawney’s too canny, he‘ll ne’er be a go. | |
| (con. 1840s–50s) London Labour and London Poor I 222/1: But popular, or notorious, murders are the ‘great goes’. | |
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 24 Nov. 3/1: As soon as ‘Moths’ [...] was declared a ‘go’ at Wallack’s, even dramatist [...] set to work to get up ‘acting versions’. | |
| Sporting Times 2 Jan. 5/2: It went with a go which showed how ably it had been rehearsed. | |
| Harper’s Mag. LXXVII 689: Determination to make the venture a go [F&H]. | |
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 14 June 2/3: Estrella Sylvia is a big go at Pastor's, and creates almost as much talk as Carmencita . | |
| Mirror of Life 20 Jan. 2/2: ‘The Mirror of Life is just the style of paper the public have long desired [...] It is bound to be a big go’. | |
| More Fables in Sl. (1960) 123: Everything considered, the Club was a Tremendous Go. | |
| Sporting Times 8 Jan. 10/1: [The] ‘Aladdin’ panto. owes not a little of its ‘go’ to the vivacity and sparkle of clever Miss Kittee Rayburn in the title-role. | |
| letter 12 July in Mitgang (1968) 188: I want to finish a book of kid stories, some real nut college stuff. It’s a go so far with the kids I’ve tried it on. | |
| Good Companions 115: Nobby came bustling out in triumph. ‘All right, chums,’ he cried. ‘It’s a go.’. | |
| Central Qld Herald (Rockhampton, Qld) 26 July 12/4: His enthusiastic ‘It’s a go!’ settled it. | |
| One Night Out Stealing 15: Getting a free glass at every table was Benny’s real go. | |
| Stalker (2001) 478: We all thought that the project looked like a go. |
5. an enjoyable time, a spree.
| Raising the Wind I iii: Ha! ha! ha! a very capital go, indeed. | |
| Jack Randall’s Diary 10: Gemmen (says he) You all well know, The joy there is whene’er we meet, It’s what I call the primest Go, And, rightly nam’d, ’tis – ‘quite a treat .’. | |
| ‘Lady’s Snatchbox’ in Cuckold’s Nest 27: So, you that are fond of the spree, [...] I’m a good ’un, you’ll find, for a go, / So bring your patent picklocks, / And you are quite welcome, you know, / To open my hairy snatchbox. | |
| in Tarheel Talk (1956) 274: Her maid [...] stretched herself beneath the overspreading foliage and favored me with a very romantic go. | |
| Sporting Times 4 Apr. 5/1: The merry abandon and the ‘go’ of polka. | |
| Ulysses 562: Drowning his grief and were on for a go with the jolly girls. | |
| Hazell and the Three-card Trick (1977) 46: Mayfair — Mediterranean cruises? All go for our Jim-Jim, innit? |
6. the status quo.
| London Guide 115: In general, the go [for street-walking] is, to put the best toggery on that is to be had, adapted to the state of the weather. | |
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 26 Oct. n.p.: No ‘peaching’ then was on a ‘pal’, / No ‘squealing’ was the ‘go’. |
7. as a single instance.
(a) an attempt, a try, e.g. have a go (at), to make an attempt.
| N.-Y. Daily Advertiser 1 Apr. 2/3–4: From the desperation of the villain, they were compelled to consider it a strong go for life or death, and resolved to act with vigor accordingly. | |
| ‘A Charade’ Dagonet Ditties 135: In all the tales our authors write / He’s painted at his worst; / I’ll have a ‘go’ at him myself. | |
| Bulletin Reciter 1880–1901 180: We can only ’ave a go. | |
| Sporting Times 13 May 4/4: Here, Frank, you have a go. | |
| They Drive by Night 93: Best thing to do was to crawl forward towards the lights and try and make out what was happening. At any rate he might be able to sort out what they were saying. Have a go anyway. | |
| Phenomena in Crime 247: Ruby has had three ‘goes’ to get away. | |
| Look Long Upon a Monkey 29: Worth having a go then. | |
| Cop This Lot 191: One thing’s bloody certain. They ’ad a go at gettin’ rid of us, but ut didn’t come orf. | |
| Rose of Tibet 11: ‘You don’t think,’ I said fumbling, ‘we should let him have another go, off his own bat’. | |
| Auf Wiedersehen Pet Two 138: ‘I wouldn’t bank on it,’ said Dennis. ‘ But it’s worth a go.’. | |
| Hooky Gear 139: I been coshed over the head. I cant fuckin think shit never mind imagine shit. Still. Have a go. |
(b) a turn in a game, an opportunity to do something; thus at/in one go, at/in one attempt; have a go, take a turn.
| Elbow-Shakers! I i: A Stay indeed, well that’s no great go! | |
| ‘Blowing In Quod’ in Swell!!! or, Slap-Up Chaunter 40: Since that ere rum ’un has quodded me, / I can’t get out for a go. | |
| in They Who Fought Here (1959) 192: I have not got but three tast(e)s since I have been in Va. [...] and I got that from two fine looking women I tell you the three goes cost me but eleven dollars. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 25 July 9/1: Ushers, eager to ‘mind’ the coats of gilded humanity at half-a-crown a ‘go,’ cast off their comedy linen, and appear in operatic bucklers of astounding appearance. | |
| You Can Search Me 115: Is it a go? | |
| Everlasting Mercy 32: I’ve never had my go. / I’ve not had all the world can give. | |
| Night and the City 12: I’m always game for a go at anything. | |
| ‘Load of Wood’ in Man From Clinkapella 6: Tell Tye to come and have a go himself if he’s in such a hurry. | |
| ‘Noah’s Ark’ Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner (1960) 88: If it’s on’y a penny a ride then we’ve got two goes each. | |
| Apprentices (1970) II iii: Come on, Leo, give us a go. | |
| Puberty Blues 117: After we’d both had a few goes, it was time to show off to the boys. |
(c) a bout of, a spell of.
| Civil and Military Gazette 25 Dec. in Pinney (1987) 132: Who pulled Sapless through his go of typhoid by sheer nursing? | |
| Woodfill of the Regulars 26: Well, I’d a rather rough go of it and didn’t see much of old San Francisco. | |
| Three Act Tragedy (1964) 134: Tollie had a very bad go of influenza last spring. | |
| Rose of Tibet 17: ‘I had just had another go of this bronchitis’. |
8. a bargain, an agreement, a ‘deal’; usu. in phr. it’s a go, that’s settled.
| Auckland Eve. Star (Supp.) 30 Oct. 6/3: I’d actually swap that imperishable leg off to you for two pounds of water-crackers and a tin cup full of Jamaica rum. Is it a go? | |
| Tales of the Argonauts 329: ‘Then it’s a go?’ said the mystified Joe [...] ‘It’s a go.’ . | |
| Body Snatchers 5: It’s a go, and now to the rescue. | |
| Sun (NY) 10 Oct. 2/5: Stop ye here, Jerry [...] Is it a go? | |
| Dead Bird (Sydney) 19 Apr. 7/4: ‘Make it 30dol. and it’s a go’. | |
| Artie (1963) 108: ‘Well, you might know it’s all right.’ ‘It’s a go then.’. | |
| Marvel 13 Oct. 330: ‘It’s a go,’ said Slaney promptly. | |
| Smoke Bellew (1926) 88: ‘If we’re goin’ to Dawson, we got to take charge of this here outfit.’ They looked at each other. ‘It’s a go,’ said Kit, as his hand went out in ratification. | |
| Grafter (1922) 4: ‘[Y]ou’ll have to get to work on that [betting] ticket [...] You’re on the usual. ‘It’s a go’. | |
| Clicking of Cuthbert 28: Then it’s a go? | |
| Arrowsmith 429: ‘It’s a go!’ They shook hands. | |
| Babe Gordon (1934) 126: One-third on everything. Morphine, heroin, and coke. Is it a go? | |
| Kingsblood Royal (2001) 256: Neil, it’s a go! | |
| House of Slammers 99: If it’s a go, I’ll help write up a grievance list. | |
| Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 50/2: go, phr. it’s a go the deal is on. | |
| Indep. on Sun. Culture 21 May 4: Bass’s draft persuaded Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon to commit to the film, making it a ‘go’. | |
| Rosa Marie’s Baby (2013) [ebook] ‘[I] suggest you took over the orphanage to see the girls there got a better go than you did’. | |
| ThugLit July [ebook] [S]he [...] said, ‘That’s the one we'll hit.’ As if the plan was a go. |
9. as a physical or verbal set-to.
(a) a contest, a fight, esp. a boxing-match or a street fight.
| Whip & Satirist of NY & Brooklyn (NY) 5 Feb. n.p.: Tuesday last decided this provincial ‘go,’ which had put all the Sheffield ‘blades’ on the qui vive. | |
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 22 May 10/3: The best ‘go’ of the evening was between John White and John Carney. White was knocked down in the first round. | |
| Texas Siftings 1 Nov. 7/3: Cost me five dollars the other day to see the tamest kind of a go. There wasn’t a knockdown in ten rounds [OED]. | |
| Truth (Sydney) 14 Oct. 6/3: It was a clever ‘go’ between two clever men, and where the little fellow was as good as his master. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 19 May 14/4: Not uncommon for goats to make friends with horses and cattle, but there is one here that has chummed-in with a mob of about a dozen emus. Camps when they camp, feeds when they feed, and when they take it into their heads to have a mile ‘go’ across a plain, foots it with the best of them. | |
| ‘A Piece of Steak’ Complete Short Stories (1993) II 1632: Then there’s a four-round spar ’tween Dealer Wells an’ Gridley, an a ten-round go ’tween Starlight an’ some sailor bloke. | |
| ‘Play’ in Bulletin (Sydney) 16 July 47/1: Nex’ minnit there’s a reel ole dingdong go – / ’Arf round or so. | |
| ‘Sock of Ages’ in Fight Stories Oct. 🌐 Wildcat Koop had a shade the better of the go. | |
| Iron Man 25: I’m not killing myself in a go like that. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Sept. 41/2: ‘They put up a go that’ll take in all the mugs in captivity’. | |
| Pittsburgh Courier (PA) 1 July 11/1: Bob Williams [wants] to help him arrange a go with Henry Armstrong . | |
| From Here to Eternity (1998) 574: Bloom had won his main go with a TKO in the first round. | |
| Mirage (1958) 299: The skids are under him. Old man Trew happened to drive up while there was a bit of an all-in go outside your bloke’s humpy [...] They didn’t get him. But he’s in the blue. | |
| Black is Best 83: He’d go to the gym and work out with both the opponents in the main go and then he’d tell ‘em both they were gonna win. | |
| How to Shoot Friends 175: I got each one of the pricks with the perfect sneak go. | |
| Lairs, Urgers & Coat-Tuggers 308: [T]hey were going to slip it a nice plump Dextrine pill not long before its event [i.e. a horse race] which was a distance go. | |
| The Joy (2015) [ebook] ‘What about a straight go? With no weapons’. | |
| (con. 1970s) King Suckerman (1998) 72: What [..], you want some go? |
(b) (Aus.) aggression, intense competition.
| Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 24 Feb. 6/2: It [i.e a boxing match] was ‘go’ from gong to gong. |
(c) an argument, a verbal attack; usu. as have a go
| Jimmy Brockett 294: This was the fourth go Herb had had at me in the last few weeks. |
10. a casino.
| London Guide 195: At the west end of the town little goes are strewed about in great plenty [...] the master of the house always taking a profit on the play [...] the houses vie with each other in sumptuousness. |
11. (Aus.) a disaster.
| (con. 1820s) Settlers & Convicts 317: It was very nearly ‘a go’ with me. I got down into such a tangle of scrubs and creeks and gullies as I should never have got clear of but for reaching a camp of blacks; I was three days and two nights without anything to eat. |
12. a bet.
| Dly Globe (St Paul, MN) 10 Mar. 2/3: ‘I’ll bet you that man’s name is Sneider,’ said one Californian [...] ‘It’s a go,’ said his companion. | |
| Bar-20 Days 76: I’ll fight you rough-an’-tumble to see if I keep it, or if you take the cayuse an’ shoot me besides: is it a go? | |
| Mules and Men (1995) 95: ‘Ah’ll bet, Ah’ll pull ’em all de fish out de lake befo’ y’all git yo’ bait dug.’ ‘Dat’s a go,’ shouted Larkins. |
13. (Aus.) a chance; an opportunity.
| These Are My People (1957) 146: They always gave me a go. | |
| Lucky Palmer 65: Give us a go, ‘Lucky’, you’ve done me. | |
| Call Me When the Cross Turns Over (1958) 196: That’s why I’ll grubstake anybody till they get on their feet. You’ve got to give a buddy man a fair go. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 26 Apr. 44: You’d think th’ lousy scum would give a battler a go, wouldn’t you? I should’ve jerried when the guy gave me the tug. | |
| Big Huey 128: ‘Anything’s a go’, they used to say in Pare, and I was inclined to think that getting it off with a woolly woofter might be a go for me. |
14. (Aus.) news, information.
| DSUE (8th edn) 473/1: later C.20. | |
| Good Girl Stripped Bare 66: [I] find a white Holden Commodore parked [...] with a phalanx of police nearby. Leaning on the bonnet, I ask, ‘So what’s the go?’. |
15. (Aus./US) the important, relevant thing.
| Burn, Killer, Burn! 50: You said that second best wasn’t your go. | |
| Ridgey-Didge Oz Jack Lang 10: Being a syrup of fig was not his go. It was always on the cards that he could end up with a bit of swish if he got sprung being a gig. | |
| White Shoes 16: This whole deal’s not our go. | |
| Candy 38: I [...] figured the bags were the go, not the mini-skip. | |
| Chopper 4 15: To stand with a cup of tea in one hand and a cream cake in the other and chat away to people was never my go. |
16. (Aus. prison) a plan.
| Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Go, the. Plan or situation. As in ‘what’s the go?’. Sometimes ‘what’s the G. O.?’. | |
| Neddy (1998) 147: We discussed who the likely killer was. I couldn’t work out anyone likely to be involved in such a sloppy go. |
17. (Aus.) a personal style, a choice.
| Between the Devlin 120: ‘I’ve been shacked up with a married woman while her husband was overseas. And as you know, Warren, that’s not my go’. |
18. (Aus.) a swindle.
| Bad Debts (2012) [ebook] Some of these books see a go coming if you put down fifty bucks. |
19. in drug uses.
(a) (drugs) amphetamine.
| ONDCP Street Terms 10: Go — Amphetamines; methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). |
In compounds
(US) a pill or capsule of amphetamine.
| Grand Dictionnaire d’Americanismes. | |
| Pimp 201: Those ‘go’ pills she had taken had died. | |
| (con. 1991) Vipers in the Storm 54: As we enter Saudi airspace, Foot comes on the radios and tells us it’s time to take another go pill. | |
| Vipers Over the Desert 49: Accordingly, the USAF looked to medicine for a solution in the form of the highly-contentious (at least to the media) amphetamine ‘Go Pill’. | |
| The Force [ebook] Malone pops two ‘go-pills’—Dexedrine. |
In phrases
fashionable.
| Sporting Mag. Jan. 170: Tippy says, as skating is all the go, we ought to give some Instructions for that manly Exercise. | |
| Heir at Law III ii: This is all the go, they say! — cut straight that’s the thing. | |
| All at Coventry I ii: Pedestrianism is all the go now. | |
| Eng. Spy I 192: There’s Georgy W-b-ll, all the go, / The mould of fashion. | |
| ‘There’s Nothing Like a Spree at Night’ in Convivialist in Spedding & Watt (eds) Bawdy Songbooks (2011) IV 13: Now is the day for frolicing and pinking it, / Ogles like rainbows tinged, are all the go. | |
| Clockmaker I 98: Folks ain’t thought nothin of, unless they live at Treemont: it’s all the go. | |
| Comic Almanack Dec. 245: The sovereign is just now more valued than ever, and, at the great theatres, Stirling is all the go. | |
| Bell’s Life in Sydney 26 Feb. 1/4: I’ve togged Jinney. Benney, you’d hardly know Jinney, she’s such a svell [...] she’s all the go. | |
| Wild Tribes of London 63: These bonnets, now, are for Australy; with lots o’ ribbins; they’ll be all the go at the diggins. | |
| Hills & Plains 2 64: She was [...] ‘all the go’ with the fast young men of Lony Ochter’s generation. | |
| diary 5 June Webfoot Volunteer (1965) 80: Poker playing was all the ‘go’ in camp. | |
| ‘Song of Velocipeding’ in Victorian Street Ballads (1937) 127: The Velocipedes are all the go, / In country and in town. | |
| ‘’Arry to the Front!’ in Punch 9 Mar. 100/2: Our War songs is now all the go. | |
| ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Ballads of Babylon 82: Her carte is hung in the West-end shops [...] there’s a big crowd stops / To look at the lady who’s ‘all the go’. | |
| Armidale Exp. (NSW) 2 Jan. 7/3: [A]necdotes of General Grant will be all the go for the next few weeks. | |
| ‘The St. George of Rochester’ in Keating Working Class Stories of the 1890s (1971) 46: Singin’ bits about ‘Nancy Lee’, as was all the go in them days. | |
| Aus. Sl. Dict 32: Go, ‘all the go,’ i.e. the fashion. | |
| New Dict. Americanisms. | |
| ‘The Girl and the Habit’ in Strictly Business (1915) 235: These light-weight fabrics is all the go this season. | |
| Ulysses 600: Esthetes and the tattoo which was all the go in the seventies or thereabouts, even in the House of Lords. | |
| A Treasury of Amer. Folklore 836: Oh, the hog-eye man is all the go / When he comes down to San Francisco. | |
| Und. Nights 41: Now that juvenile delinquency is all the go. [Ibid.] 177: The mail-bag or post-office job is all the go these days. | |
| A Life (1981) Act I: They’re all the go. | |
| Indep. 29 Feb. 15: Houndstooth jackets are all the go in Yemen. | |
| Silver [ebook] A podcast. It’s all the go. |
(orig. Aus.) to try something or someone out, to take a chance on, to make an attempt.
| S.A. Chron. & Wkly Mail (Adelaide) 19 Feb. 20/5: The children [...] seem to identify themselves thoroughly with the rollicking fun of the pretty opera, and vie with each other in giving it what in theatrical language is known as giving it a ‘go’. | |
| in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 40: ‘Why the guy is a wonder,’ replied Tim [...] ‘All right, Tim, thanks I’ll give it a go and see him.’. | |
| (con. WWI) Somme Mud 129: ‘Here, Nulla, we’ll give it a go’ [...] We’re determined to give it a go so keep on. | |
| Dict. of Aus. Words And Terms 🌐 GIVE IT A GO—To make an attempt. | |
| Iron Man 108: Willy Strapp’s willing to give him a go if he can lick Red Stuart. | |
| Cobbers 10: We want people from the other side to see our State. Give it a go. | |
| Foveaux 180: I ain’t so sure sometimes that a man’s such a mug to work. Times when I almost feel like giving it a go meself. | |
| Battlers 179: Me husbing’s heard of a job over in Dubbo, and he says if I can stay here, it’ll suit ’im till he sees whether he’ll give this job a go or not. [Ibid.] 308: Why, I’ll give it a go. Might as well be there as anywhere else. | |
| Joyful Condemned 39: Look [...] we might give that place a go. | |
| Riverslake 20: Give us a go, you blokes, for Gawd’s sake! | |
| They’re a Weird Mob (1958) 30: Okay. I’ll give y’a go. If yer no good yer don’ get paid. Fair enough? | |
| Gone Fishin’ 114: He was sayin’ he might give Corunna a go. | |
| Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1969) 104: The local press, including some of the hipper, smaller sheets, gave it a go. | |
| (con. 1930s) ‘Keep Moving’ 4: We’ll bite the butcher and baker as we go in [...] They’re a hungry mob but we’ll give ’em a go. | |
| ‘The Russians are Coming’ Only Fools and Horses [TV script] Well let’s give it a go, eh? | |
| Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 50/1: give it a birl/burl make an attempt; from causing the coin to spin in the game of two-up; also give it a go and give it a pop. | |
| Penguin Bk of More Aus. Jokes 229: That’s a bad stammer you’ve got. Nonetheless I’ll give you a go. | |
| It Was An Accident 153: ‘Do you think you can get up?’ ‘Give it a go.’. | |
| Powder 382: He’d just watch what everyone else was doing and give it a go himself. | |
| Guardian Rev. 23 June 27: I would buy it. I’m willing to give it a go. | |
| Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. [as cit. 1988]. | |
| Tales of the Honey Badger [ebook] I gave it a red-hot go, bagging a bit of meat. |
(US) to give permission.
| ‘Hill Clan Cross’ in Crimes in Southern Indiana [ebook] ‘We never gave the go for this deal’. |
three pennyworth of spirits, usu. mixed with water.
| Echo 7 Feb. 4, col. 3: Witness asked him what he had been drinking. He replied, ‘Two half-goes of rum hot and a half-pint of beer.’ [F&H]. |
1. to fight; usu. with at.
| ‘Fanny Flukem’s Ball’ in Bird o’ Freedom (Sydney) in Larrikins (1973) 39: Then Micky from the Rocks jumped up / And said ‘Bli’me, ’er, you know, / If any bloke in the bleeding crowd / Would like to have a go.’. | |
| Boy’s Own Paper 27 Nov. 133: Not till I’ve had a good go at that Pete Burge. | |
| Proc. Old Bailey 20 Oct. 1050: I told the prisoner that, was not a manly thing to do—he had a go at me, but I got the best of it. | |
| There Ain’t No Justice 215: Let go of me for Christ’s sake and let me have a go at the bastards! | |
| None But the Lonely Heart 81: A walloping big picture of blokes on horses having a go at each other with spears. | |
| They’re a Weird Mob (1958) 62: ‘Come on. Break it up.’ [...] ‘Let ’em have a go.’. | |
| in Encounter n.d. in Norman’s London (1969) 64: Don’t you have a go at me, dear, otherwise I’ll get Butch to have a go at you. | |
| ‘Prisoner and Escort’ in Cockade (1965) I iii: Waiting on you to have a go. Have a go Blake – thump me you bastard. | |
| Cotton Comes to Harlem (1967) 116: Both women were nude and badly mauled — scratched and beaten as though they’d had a furious go with each other. | |
| Burn 50: Both of them had a go at me. | |
| Spike Island (1981) 39: I jump off the bus and I walk smack-bang into four of ’em, and they all ’ave a go. | |
| Awaydays 13: Come ’ead!! They’re here! They’re fucken having a go! | |
| Conversation with the Mann 55: He was fixing to have a go at these boys like he was Charlie Bad-Brother. |
2. to attack verbally; usu. with at.
| We Were the Rats 212: You had a go back? You didn’t let him get away with it? | |
| Fings I i: Don’t start ’avin’ a go at us, Lil. | |
| Guntz 9: [He] had plenty of goes at me whenever he got the chance. | |
| Frying-Pan 13: You’ve really got to push the staff here before they start having a go back at you. | |
| London Fields 393: Preparing himself for yet more reproaches from the female end of things (even Trish would be having a go at him later). | |
| Sun. Tel. Mag. 11 Jan. 9: I was immensely relieved that he decided not to have a go at me. | |
| Happy Like Murderers 60: She stuck up for her a few times [...] when he had a go at her about anything. | |
| Hip-Hop Connection Jan./Feb. 18: We don’t want them to see it as us just having a go at the Mayor. | |
| Life 494: When Bill Wyman left [...] I got extremely stroopy. I really did have a go at him. |
3. to pick a fight.
| He Died with His Eyes Open 62: You tryinter ave a go [...] You? At me? You must be bonkers, dad. | |
| How to Shoot Friends 16: Well, go on, do you want to have a go? | |
| (con. 1960s-70s) Top Fellas 115/2: If any drunks came in [...] and had a go, we’d punch the shit out of them. |
1. to succeed (despite the odds).
| [ | | Harper’s Mag. LXXVII, 689: Determination to make the venture a go [F&H]]. |
| Valley of the Moon (1914) 519: They ain’t a jerk burg we hit all the time on the road that I couldn’t jump into an’ make a go. | |
| Nigger Heaven 224: I can’t think of anyone who could make a go of it. | |
| (con. 1920s) Young Manhood in Studs Lonigan (1936) 347: They wanted to make a go of this club. | |
| letter 27 June in Charters (1995) I 157: So, working on railroads or ships, we’d make a go of it at least for a while. | |
| Big Smoke 184: I’m just carrying on, trying to make a go of it, feeding the starving, but at their price. | |
| Big Rumble 78: I bet we’d make a good go of it together. | |
| (con. 1920s) South of Heaven (1994) 101: I didn’t make a very good go of it. | |
| Blue Movie (1974) 134: Mister Wonderful had decided not to divorce his wife after all [...] (‘gotta try again to make a go of it with Ethel’). | |
| Rat on Fire (1982) 22: Even I could run away and make a go of it if that was what I wanted to do. | |
| Candy 65: We’d try to make a go of dealing. | |
| A Daughter takes Sides 🌐 She truly loved her daughter but she realized that they could never make a go of it together. |
2. to put up with, to tolerate.
| Limey 25: I guess you’ll have to make a go of it with the Buick for a while. |
(US black) to leave.
| Beale Black & Blue 163: [H]e got mad and jumped up to make the go out the door and stepped over the steps. |
unfashionable.
| Gale Middleton 1 149: That’s all, except his togs, which are no great go — though there’s a new castor. |
1. on the verge of destruction.
| Hist. Whiggism in Works (1709) I 133: They did so many Irrational, Senseless, and Destructive Acts, that almost all lay at Stake [...] and was just upon the go. |
2. about to depart.
| London Guide 217: When one of these [merchants] is upon the go, that is to say, must shortly decamp [etc]. |
3. drunk (usu. slightly), tipsy.
| Life in London (Peoples’ edn) 58: The Corinthian had made him a little bit on the go [F&H]. | |
| Bell’s Life in Sydney 12 Jan. 3/3: Nash was very lushy, Connors tipsy, and Buzzy getting boosey, or just getting on the go. | |
| ‘Rough House Johnny Lee’ 17 Nov. [synd. col.] He packed a Smith and Wesson, and they say he’d let ’er flicker / If any one should cross him when he was on the go. |
4. active, lively.
| Real Life in Ireland 178: Sally Stephenson had cut some cross-legged capers, and altogether was on the fancy go. | |
| Gay Life in N.Y. 93: The pretty waiter girls were continually on the go. | |
| Huge Hunter in Beadle’s Half Dime Library XI:271 8/2: He was on the ‘go’ continually. | |
| Tramp Diary in Jack London On the Road (1979) 44: Teamsters & wagons were on the go; the commissary officers all life & motion; aide flying in all directions. | |
| Ballygullion 77: He was a terribly fidgety wee man, always on the go. | |
| Recklessness in Ten ‘Lost’ Plays (1995) 134: You know when you’re here we’re always on the go. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 2 Sept. 14/1: And ’e’s on the go till ‘lights out,’ gettin’ cursed at by his captains, / Puttin’ action in his pupils – gettin’ cursed by them as well. | |
| Man’s Grim Justice 142: She had me on the go night and day knocking off jugs to get her dough. | |
| ‘Don’t Know If I’m Comin’ or Goin’’ 🎵 You’ve got me on the go, / Running to and fro. | |
| For the Rest of Our Lives 311: They were all beginning to get the pricker a bit. No wonder. On the go since Syria. | |
| Epitaph for George Dillon Act I: He’s a very busy chap. Always on the go. | |
| Manchild in the Promised Land (1969) 389: Shorty used to be always on the go, always trying to make that next dollar. | |
| Morning After Optimism in Plays: 3 (1994) Scene v: Leave me alone, I’m tired, I’ve been on the go! | |
| Blow Your House Down 17: She’d been on the go since six. | |
| Soho 166: What with all the booze I’ve taken on board today and being on the go for Christ knows how many hours, I thought for a minute it were a fookin mirage. |
5. in a state of decline.
| in Zwilling TAD Lex. (1993) 100: I had that big Dago on the go at Coney Island. |
6. nervous.
| ‘The Something in a Colored Man’ in Coll. Stories (1990) 405: Eveytime he heard the name it put him on the go. |
7. happening, going on.
| letter 20 Mar. in Thwaite Sel. Letters (1992) 259: I’m glad to hear from you and to know you have another novel on the go. | |
| Traveller’s Tool 131: I’ve got a refreshing glass of neck-oil in one hand, a smoke on the go in the other. | |
![[Scot]](/static/img/flags/sco.png "Scotland") | Filth 19: You’re no telling me that you’ve no got something oan the go? | |
| Birthday 75: Sitting on the top deck with a fag on the go. | |
| Trio 244: Kincade had a glass of red wine on the go. |
a fair or well-matched fight or other contest, a fight without weapons; also attrib.
| Dead Bird (Sydney) 28 Sept. 5/1: The Sullivan Molloy fight at Foley’s [...] will be a real square go, and worth going a long way to see. | |
| Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 14 Nov. 1/1: [of horse races] The public got very few ‘square goes’ at the November meeting. | |
| (con. mid-1960s) Glasgow Gang Observed 74: The fight had been a clean one, no blades, just heads and boots, all ‘square-goes’. | |
| Lowspeak 133: Square-go – (Scots) a fight without weapons. | |
| ‘The Two Philosophers’ in Acid House 115: Thir’s only wahn way tae settle this argument: yous two in a squeer go ootside. | |
| Filth 347: Ah’d take any one ay yis in a square go! | |
| OnLine Dict. of Playground Sl. 🌐 square-go... (1) widely used playground precursor to a sound ‘kicking’ – usually followed by ‘...pal’, ‘...Jimmy’ etc., ‘be frightened....be very frightened!’. | |
| Glue 44: Every cunt kens thit Gail wid batter fuck oot ay her in a square go. | |
| (con. 1980s) Skagboys 49: Keezbo habitually invents imaginary square-go scenarios between unlikely participants. | |
| Decent Ride 104: Yi’ll no be feart ay nae Hurricane Bawbag eftir this. In fact yi’ll be ootside wantin a square go wi the cunt! | |
| Young Team 46: There’s square-goes happenin like fuck noo. |
(Aus. Und.) an easy crime.
| Neddy (1998) 132: [The detective] got a drink and explained that he had an insurance job he wanted me to do. / ‘Are you interested in doing an armed robbery in town? It’s a sweet go,’ he said. |
In exclamations
(US) a toast that precedes drinking.
| St Louis Globe-Democrat 19 Jan. n.p.: After all have ‘nominated,’ such remarks pass as ‘spiel,’ ‘put it down,’ ‘here’s looking at you,’ ‘tip,’ ‘here’s a go.’. |