go-as-you-please

comparative more go-as-you-please · superlative most go-as-you-please

1. Freestyle (of a race, especially a walking race); hence, (more generally) unconstrained by convention, loose, easy.First known use 19th c.

1. uncountableA go-as-you-please race; hence, a free-for-all; laissez-faire, a relaxed atmosphere.First known use 19th c.

   ‘Well, that was far too much for me, and I went off on a go-as-you-please round the bloomin’ room.’

   1911, ‘Steel Rudd’, The Book of Dan, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, published 1970, page 99

   1 more example

   Here he was just over forty, and explaining […] how excellent was the backwardness of Essex and English go-as-you-please, and how through good temper it made in some mysterious way for all that was desirable.

   1916, HG Wells, Mr Britling Sees it Through, London: Hogarth Press, published 1985, page 117