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Glite Dictionary
to go kablooie

to go kablooie

9.9
To suddenly break or stop working in a dramatic way
  • phrasal verb
  • /ɡoʊ kəˈbluːi/
  • Slang
translation icon : explotar
  • As soon as the engine overheated, it went kablooie and left us stranded by the side of the road.

Examples

  • Suffice it to say that if a 20-year-old fresh out of grammar school can recognize from the translation alone that the translator initially confused 'maid' with 'maiden' and things just went kablooie from there on out, something is decidedly not right.

    Blog text (12)

  • When the faulty fireworks went off, they went kablooie and lit up the night sky.

  • The old computer finally gave out and went kablooie with a shower of sparks.

Synonyms

to blow
vsto go kablooie
∞ 3.5

To break suddenly because of pressure or too much electricity

is more about explosive drama and total failure than a simple break
to break down
vsto go kablooie
194 3.2

To stop working because of a problem

is usually sudden and complete, not a slow or partial failure
to crash
vsto go kablooie
  • Specialized
156 3.2

To stop working suddenly, especially for a computer or program

is more explosive and total, not only a sudden system failure
to cut out
vsto go kablooie
45 4.1

To stop working suddenly

is often more destructive and dramatic than a mere sudden stoppage
to go bad
vsto go kablooie
  • US
33 3.5

Stop working and need repair

is more instantly catastrophic, not a gradual worsening over time
to crap out
vsto go kablooie
  • Offensive
13 9.6

To stop working or trying suddenly

is more dramatic and complete, not just a sudden informal failure
to conk out
vsto go kablooie
  • Informal
7 8.1

To stop working suddenly or to fall asleep because of tiredness

is more violent and explosive, not a quiet or tired shutdown
to flame out
vsto go kablooie
  • Informal
6 7.5

To fail suddenly after a good start

is similarly sudden but focuses more on physical explosion or complete destruction
to fritz
vsto go kablooie
  • Informal
1 8.0

To stop working properly, often about machines

is more sudden and total, not only partial or intermittent malfunction
to hit the buffers
vsto go kablooie
  • Literature
8.4

Suddenly stop or fail because of a big problem

is more about sudden violent destruction than stopping due to obstacles

Antonyms

to function
441 2.6

To work in a particular role or job

How Sudden

to explode
579 2.8
to go kablooie
  • Slang
9.9
to go down
187 3.4
to break
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

go kablooie infinitive
went kablooie past
gone kablooie past participle
going kablooie present participle
goes kablooie third person singular

Morphology

go + kablooie

The verb 'go' combined with a sound-symbolic form like 'kablooie' yields a partially inferable meaning (go + explosive sound = to explode or break suddenly), so learners can often guess the general sense. However, 'kablooie' is non-lexical/onomatopoeic and the exact sense and pragmatic uses are idiomatic and variable, so the meaning is not fully predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

Go kablooie comes from a loud, silly sound word, kablooie, that comics and stories use to show something exploding or falling apart. So to go kablooie today means 'to explode' or 'to stop working suddenly and completely'.