Phrase guide

go postal

verb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɡəʊ ˈpəʊstl̩/
  • General-American: /ˌɡoʊ ˈpoʊstəl/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To become aggressive and erratic, especially due to stress; specifically, to carry out a shooting spree at a workplace environment; also (more generally) to become very angry; to lose one's temper.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, informal, intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: run amok, crash out, Note: All terms are idiomatic unless stated otherwise., blow a fuse, blow a gasket, blow one's stack, blow one's top, cut up nasty, cut up rough, do one's block, do one's nut, flip one's lid, flip one's wig, flip out, fly into a rage, fly off the handle, forget oneself, get bent out of shape, get one's back up, get one's dander up, get one's Irish up, get one's shirt out, go ape, go apeshit, go ballistic, go bananas, go bitchcakes, go HAM, go H.A.M., go off, go postal, go spare, have a cow, have a fit, have kittens, hit the roof, hit the ceiling, lose it, lose one's cool, lose one's marbles, lose one's mind, lose one's rag, lose one's temper, lower the boom, pitch a fit, pop one's cork, see red, shit a brick, steam, teen, throw a fit, throw one's toys out of the pram, vent one's gall, wax wode

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From go (“to become”) + postal (“relating to the collection, sorting and delivery of mail”), from a number of incidents, mostly gun violence, perpetrated by disgruntled U.S. Postal Service workers on co-workers in the United States in the mid 1980s.

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: péter un câble — to become aggressive and erratic
  • German: ausrasten — to become aggressive and erratic
  • Hungarian: bedilizik — to become aggressive and erratic
  • Hungarian: bekattan — to become aggressive and erratic
  • Portuguese: surtar — to become aggressive and erratic