go hog wild, to

To behave in an uncontrolled manner, often due to excitement. The crowd had been cheering, but they really went hog wild once the lead singer took the stage. Your students will go hog wild if you never discipline them.

In an uncontrolled manner, often due to excitement. The crowd had been cheering, but they really went hog wild once the lead singer took the stage. Your students will go hog wild if you never discipline them.

Rur. to behave wildly. Have a good time at the party, but don't go hog wild. The teacher cannot control a class that is going hog wild.

wild; out of control. I went hog wild at the sale and bought six new pairs of shoes. There were a dozen different desserts at the picnic. A person who liked sweets could go hog wild.

Become crazy with excitement, as in The crowd went hog wild as soon as the band began to play. Why this expression should allude to the craziness of hogs is no longer known. [Colloquial; c. 1900]

If you go hog wild, you behave in an uncontrolled and excited way. Note: A hog is a pig. You can't let teenagers go completely hog wild. People aren't going hog-wild, but they are at least starting to spend. Note: Hogs can sometimes become uncontrolled and aggressive.

To go berserk; to go crazy with excitement. An Americanism dating from about 1905, this expression is a mysterious metaphor. Possibly it refers to the manic struggles of animals being taken away for slaughter, or perhaps it once meant unseemly enthusiasm, hogs being associated mostly with negative characteristics.

Become overly excited or enthusiastic. Why the hog should have been singled out remains a mystery, unless porcine greediness was somehow connected with an overwhelming desire for excitement. In any event, the phrase has now been overshadowed by “going ape-shit” (which raises even more intriguing simian speculation).