Etymology

balloon goes up

bal·loon goes up

Today it means: Something exciting, risky, or troublesome begins. Full definition →

First used early 20th c.
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The story

Probably from the releasing of a balloon as a signal for an event to begin, possibly popularized by the use of balloons by the British Army during World War I (1914–1918) as a signal for artillery fire to commence.

First known use, by meaning

  • from early 20th c. Something exciting, risky, or troublesome begins.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.