go to town
1. To act with great energy or enthusiasm. We had only planned to paint one room over the weekend, but we went to town and wound up painting the whole upstairs instead! I'd gone to town on that report for two days straight when my computer suddenly crashed and wiped out half my work! I have a hard time writing consistently because I can only go to town when I've had a flash of inspiration.
2. To do something to excess or in an uninhibited manner. The kids sure went to town on those cupcakes—there's none left. They all just turned 21—why are you surprised they went to town on alcoholic beverages at the barbeque? You really went to town planning your daughter's birthday party. Pony rides and everything, wow!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
go(ing) to town
To do something successfully and/or with great enthusiasm. A nineteenth-century Americanism, this expression probably originally alluded to the special treat of a trip to town for rural folks. “Chocolate creams are one of the things I am fondest of. I was feeling low and I went to town,” said a character in Erle Stanley Gardner’s The Case of the Silent Partner, indicating he had eaten a great many of them.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer