T-learning # Idiom
Speak Like a Native

to go ape

Choose the correct definition a, b or c.

a) to shout

Sorry, wrong answer. Please try again.

b) to eat too many bananas

Sorry, wrong answer. Please try again.

c) to get angry

Well done ! That’s the right answer.

If someone goes ape, they start to behave in an uncontrolled way, usually because they are very excited or very angry.

This idiom is a modern version of the older go berserk. ‘To go bananas’ is a good synonym.

You can also say that someone goes ape crazy or that they go apeshit.

French translation

partir en vrille, péter un câble

How NOT to translate : *aller singe
...................................................

Examples in the press

Everybody Went Ape for Cryptocurrency. Here’s Some Sane Advice as It Crashes.

If all the crypto bros loved bitcoin at nosebleed prices, should you like it now that it’s closer to earth ?

This was supposed to be bitcoin’s moment to shine. Inflation is running wild, and Vladimir Putin is making not so veiled threats about nuclear war. A super-secure, super-rare digital currency was supposed to be the thing that would hold its value in the face of a twin shitstorm.

Instead, bitcoin has crashed, trading at $39,040 on March 8, down almost half from an all-time high of $69,000 in November. It looks more like the Russian ruble than a bar of gold.’

Willamette Week, 9 March 2022
...................................................

Everyday usage

The audience went ape over the band.

My parents went totally ape when they found out I’d wrecked the car !

Claramedia, 20 May 2022


Missed last week’s phrase ? Catch up here