balloon goes up

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English

Etymology

A balloon with a radiosonde goes up.

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.

Pronunciation

Phrase

balloon goes up

  1. (idiomatic) Chiefly preceded by the: something exciting, risky, or troublesome begins.
    ― When is your job interview?
    ― The balloon goes up at 10 tomorrow.
    • 1909, Putnam's Magazine, quoted in OED ⎥ Oxford English Dictionary online, retrieved 22 August 2024:
      ‘You tell Alfonso..that one more break like that will give him a good swift start for Spain.’..‘In brief, Alfonso, cut out the musical extras or your balloon goes up.’
    • 1932 August 17, P G Wodehouse, chapter 16, in Hot Water, Woodstock, New York, N.Y.: The Overlook Press, published 1983, →ISBN, page 209:
      This was the moment when he must put his fortune to the test, to win or lose it all. Now or never must the balloon go up.
    • 1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 73:
      ”Time’s up, my chickens!” “What time?” said Fanny. “Why, the truce, of course!” said Harry. “You’ve had your twenty-four hours and longer. After dinner tonight the balloon goes up.” And go up it did.
    • 1980 April 15, Joseph P Addabbo (chairman, Subcommittee on the Department of Defense), Donald R Keith (witness), “Army Research and Development”, in Department of Defense Appropriations for 1981: Hearings before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, Second Session Part 3: Research, Development, and Acquisition, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 681:
      Mr. Addabbo. But TACFIRE, because it is big and noisy and radiates heat, is vulnerable. If the balloon goes up TACFIRE won't last long. It is also very old technology. / General Keith. What I am saying is if the balloon goes up tomorrow, we will have something over the next few years to greatly enhance the efficiency of our field artillery. I cannot tell you when we will be able to say when the balloon goes up we have got something that is that much better.
    • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:balloon goes up.

Usage notes

  • The term is also used with other forms of the word go, such as going and went.

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ the balloon goes up, phrase” under balloon, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2022.
  2. ^ balloon goes up, the”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Christine Ammer, The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2003, →ISBN.