go berserk

present singular third person goes berserk · participle present going berserk · past went berserk · participle past gone berserk

1. idiomaticinformalTo enter a wild and uncontrollable state.

   The fans immediately went berserk as the singer walked onstage.

   4 more examples

   If someone sneaks my lunch again, I'm actually going to go berserk.

   I watched the game in New York City's unofficial Redskins bar. When the game ended, we went berserk, performing a celebratory Fun Bunch and singing "Hail to the Redskins!"

   2006 January 13, Felix Gillette, “The Gloater”, in Slate, New York, N.Y.: The Slate Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Nov 2023

   Let's say I touch my own hand with my finger. My brain can perceive that signal and then cancel it out. But Novichok makes it not get cancelled out, so it feels like I'm touching my own hand a million times a second, and every cell in my body goes berserk, and the brain understands that this is the end.

   2020 October 18, Masha Gessen, “Alexey Navalny Has the Proof of His Poisoning”, in The New Yorker, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 Feb 2024

   As we exited the observatory's parking lot, the truck's computer monitor started bleeping angrily. Before we reached the main road, we picked up 13 wireless signals. Within a half mile, we found 66 signals. Niday's gadgetry was going berserk.

   2021 August 3, Stephen Kurczy, “The Truth About the Quietest Town in America”, in Wired, San Francisco, Calif.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 Jun 2023

   Synonyms: berserk, flip one's wig, flip out, freak out, get one's freak on, go ballistic, go bananas, go bonkers