to go batshit
2
9.9
- phrasal verb
- Offensive
:
volverse loco
- The hijacked U.S. government has officially gone batshit crazy.
Examples
-
After he lost his job, he went batshit and started shouting in the street.
-
Everywhere was going batshit crazy.
-
I mean, if I even have coffee before noon, I go batshit.
-
Ron Paul has gone batshit crazy.
Blog text (12) -
They made a criticism, and their opponents went batshit over it.
Blog text (12) -
I think legislation prohibiting union busting in the 50s is about the time the drunk-with-power unions started going batshit crazy.
Blog text (6) -
When she found out the news, she went batshit with excitement.
-
The children went batshit when they saw the ice cream truck arriving.
Synonyms
143
7.5
To suddenly become very angry, excited, or surprised
27
7.7
To become very angry and act out of control
22
7.5
Suddenly become very angry
20
7.5
To act wildly and cause chaos
15
8.1
Suddenly act in a very emotional and out of control way
14
7.3
To be unable to think clearly because you are very worried or upset
11
6.8
To suddenly become very angry
11
9.2
React with strong fear or excitement and lose control
8
8.1
To lose control because you are very excited or angry
7
5.3
To suddenly get very angry without warning
4
6.7
To suddenly become very angry
2
8.2
To lose control of your feelings and act very upset
2
8.6
Suddenly get very angry and show it
1
8.6
Become very upset or excited and act confused suddenly
1
9.6
To get very excited and act loudly
1
9.9
To suddenly get very angry and speak loudly for a long time
Get very upset and confused quickly
To suddenly become very angry or upset without control
To suddenly become very angry and behave in a mean way
To suddenly become very angry
Antonyms
How Extreme
- Offensive
2
9.9
- Informal
27
7.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The structure is compositionally 'go' (become) + 'batshit' (extremely crazy/irrational), so a learner who knows both words can infer 'become extremely angry/irrational/excited/crazy'. The construction follows the common and cross-linguistic pattern 'go + adjective' meaning 'become X'—although 'batshit' is informal/vulgar, the meaning is still predictable from its parts.
Etymology
Go batshit may come from the picture of bats flying wildly around someone's head and the word shit adding a dirty, shocking feel, so the whole phrase paints a picture of chaos and loss of control. So today go batshit means 'to become very angry, excited, or to lose control'.