to take off like gangbusters
- idiom
- Informal
:
despegar como la pólvora
- Once the advertisement aired, sales took off like gangbusters, exceeding all expectations.
Examples
-
After their latest album was released, the band took off like gangbusters in the music charts.
-
The new app became a sensation and took off like gangbusters among young users.
-
And it takes off like gangbusters in the early modern period.
Synonyms
86
3.0
To become successful or popular very quickly
61
3.8
To spread very quickly online and reach many people
52
4.1
To rise very quickly to a high level
26
3.4
To become very popular quickly, often online
23
4.4
To quickly become very popular and liked by many people
11
3.9
Get a lot of attention in an exciting way
7
4.5
To become very successful and famous in your work
7
3.9
To sell very quickly because many people want it
5
3.7
To become very popular quickly, especially online
3
5.9
Rise very quickly, for example prices or demand
1
7.2
Many people buy it very quickly
To become very popular with customers and sell a lot very quickly
Antonyms
How Fast
- Informal
- Texting
61
3.8
86
3.0
9
4.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
take + off + like + gangbusters
The phrasal verb 'take off' has a partly compositional, metaphorical sense of 'become successful or depart' that a learner who knows 'take' + 'off' can often infer, but that sense is not fully literal. The simile 'like gangbusters' is a slangy idiomatic intensifier (the word 'gangbusters' itself is metaphorical), so the combined meaning 'become suddenly very successful' is largely inferable but relies on an idiomatic intensifier and therefore is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Take off like gangbusters may come from an old radio show called Gang Busters that began with loud bangs and quick action. Imagine something taking off with that same sudden force, so the phrase means 'to become very successful very quickly'.