postal

go ballistic

To become wildly or uncontrollably angry. My parents went totally ballistic when they found out I'd wrecked the car! Now, don't go ballistic or anything, but I've decided to move to Canada.
See also: ballistic, go

go postal

1. slang To shoot or otherwise attack one's coworkers (and/or random people) in a rage, typically after becoming disgruntled in one's workplace. The phrase originated after a series of unrelated incidents in the 1980s and '90s in which American postal workers shot coworkers or members of the public. You've got to watch out for the quiet types—they're the ones who end up going postal and shooting up the place.
2. slang By extension, to become wildly or uncontrollably angry. He wasn't happy with me and went postal when he heard what I had to say.
See also: go, postal
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

go ballistic

 and go postal
Fig. to become irrationally enraged. (Ballistic refers to a missile launching; postal refers to an enraged post office employee attacking those at his place of work. See also go into orbit.) The boss went ballistic when he saw my expense report. She was so mad, I thought she was going to go postal.
See also: ballistic, go
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

go ballistic

Become extremely upset or angry, as in Dad will go ballistic when he sees you dented the new car. This expression, a variation on go berserk, originally alluded to a guided missile going out of control. [Slang; mid-1980s]
See also: ballistic, go
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

go ballistic

INFORMAL
If someone goes ballistic, they get extremely angry. They claim the singer went ballistic after a member of his band failed to show up for a sound check. She'll go ballistic when she finds out. Note: This expression uses the image of a ballistic missile, and the powerful explosion which it causes. Compare with go nuclear.
See also: ballistic, go

go postal

mainly AMERICAN, INFORMAL
If someone goes postal, they become extremely angry and lose control of themselves. He went postal and punched a police officer in the face. Compare with go ballistic. Note: This expression comes from a series of shootings carried out by US postal workers.
See also: go, postal
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

go ballistic

fly into a rage. informal
1998 New Scientist The French nuclear industry, local authorities around La Hague and some government agencies went ballistic. Viel was fiercely condemned for his findings.
See also: ballistic, go

go postal

go mad, especially from stress. US informal
This expression arose as a result of several recorded cases in the USA in which postal-service employees ran amok and shot colleagues.
1999 New Yorker A man two seats away ‘went postal’ when the battery on his cell phone gave out. A heavyset passenger had to sit on the man until the train finally pulled into Grand Central.
See also: go, postal
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

go balˈlistic

(informal) become very angry: He went ballistic when I told him about the accident.A ballistic missile is a weapon that is sent through the air and that explodes when it hits the thing that it is aimed at. When it goes ballistic it starts to fall towards its target and so becomes very dangerous.
See also: ballistic, go

go ˈpostal

(American English, informal) become extremely angry or start behaving in a violent and angry way: According to one eye witness, the man ‘went postal, and started hitting his computer’.This expression originated in the USA in the 1990s, where there were several incidents of postal workers losing control and shooting members of the public in post offices.
See also: go, postal
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

go postal

in. to become wild; to go berserk. He made me so mad I thought I would go postal.
See also: go, postal
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

go ballistic

Slang
To become very angry or irrational.
See also: ballistic, go

go postal

Slang To become extremely angry or deranged, especially in an outburst of violence.
See also: go, postal
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • ballistic
  • go ballistic
  • go ballistic, to
  • go bitchcakes
  • apeshit
  • go apeshit
  • go apeshit over (something)
  • go apeshit over someone/something
  • go ape over (someone or something)
  • go ape over someone/something
References in periodicals archive
Global Postal Services Market, 2018, By Region, Value ($ Billion)
Global Postal Services Market Report 2019 with Profiles of United States Postal Service, China Post, Deutsche Post, Japan Post, La Poste
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300 Postal Services properties encroached in various cities
The committee said that the issues related to implementation and encroached properties would be taken up in presence of Minister for Postal Services.
Senate body for comprehensive revival plan of Pakistan Post
The Postal Service officials responded to series of queries about the advent and importance of the postal services in the world, posed by students and other participants of the ceremony about the services being provided by Pakistan Post to the masses and abroad.
AJK marks Universal Postal Day
According to Mr Mangan, the prison staff usually receives all postal ballots 10 days to a week before elections are scheduled.
Feature: Barred from voting
Subscription to the postal box service is possible through the website https://poboxes.omanpost.om or by visiting the postal branch.
OMAN POST OPENS NEW OFFICE IN MA'ABELA
The privatised Pos Malaysia is the main delivery service for postal votes nationwide.
Pos Malaysia in race against clock to deliver postal votes
Those losses allow the Postal Service's many critics to characterize it as a dinosaur, crawling toward extinction in the tar pits of email, electronic bill payments and private competition.
Another blow to USPS
Unions representing Canada's postal workers are rolling out a new social media campaign that calls for the revival of postal banking.
Postal workers in Canada want Postal Bank
As part of the inauguration, Shaikh Khalid Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairman of Sharjah Urban Planning Council (SUPC), installed the first postal code sign on Thursday, signalling the implementation of phase one in Al Majaz 2, Sharjah, and officially launching the project.
Official launch of new Sharjah postal code system
The list includes 24 private postal and courier services, whose activities are virtually eliminated by the decisions of the customs agency, reports Uzmetronom.
Representatives of postal, courier services collectively complain against customs agency of Uzbekistan
16 -- The opening ceremony of the Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) Executive Council Meeting (ECM), which is one of the most significant events hosted by the Sri Lankan Postal Department was held at the Cinnamon Grand hotel in Colombo under the patronage of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Asian Pacific Postal Union EC Meeting commences
Muscat: A large number of companies which offer postal services in Oman without a licence from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) will go out of business.
Oman's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority standardise postal service sector
A hundred days after super typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan struck areas in the Visayas, particularly Tacloban City in Leyte, PHLPost, with the help of two foreign postal organizations, is doing its share to help restore normalcy in the city's post office.
Yolanda-hit post offices restoration set
Hamad bin Salim al-Rawahi, CEO of Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) approved today a number of decisions on the postal services sector, including twelve decisions on renewal of the license of the postal services and associated services, one non-licensing decision and one cancelling-license decision, as of January, 1st, 2014.
TRC Approves Decision to Regulate Postal Services