go to town

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Verb

go to town (third-person singular simple present goes to town, present participle going to town, simple past went to town, past participle gone to town)

1. (idiomatic) To proceed enthusiastically, vigorously, or expertly.

   She really went to town with the party preparations.

   • 2018 October 15, Steven Pye, “When Gary Lineker scored four goals to help England win 4-2 in Spain”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Never slow to bang the drum, the English press went to town, calling Lineker the “Matador of Madrid” and announcing that “Spain are Linekered.”

   • 2018 November, N. K. Jemisin, How Long 'til Black Future Month?‎^[2], Hachette, →ISBN:

     The news channels had been the first to figure out that particular wrinkle, but the religions really went to town with it.

   • 2022 May 29, Tom Lamont, quoting Jim Howick, “‘We were always trying to push boundaries’: Jim Howick on breaking taboos, coping with life and the joy of dogs”, in The Observer‎^[3], →ISSN:

     Oh, I went to town in the last lockdown, spent a lot of money on the paints, the brushes, the figurines for a game called Hero Quest.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see go,‎ to,‎ town.

   Pa went to town to buy a new plough.

Synonyms

• go to work

Translations

proceed enthusiastically

• Estonian: edu saavutama, tublisti töötama
• Kurdish:
  • Northern Kurdish: ajotn bajêrr, keftn kari
• Swedish: köra hårt (sv)

go to town

• Estonian: linna minema
• French: aller en ville
• Swedish: gå till stan (on foot), åka till stan (by vehicle)

See also

• go to town on
• go all out
• have a field day

Further reading

• “go to town v.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present
• Eric Partridge (2005) “go to town”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 2 (J–Z), London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 1995.