Ballon goes up

[FredPuli]

'The balloon went up' means that hostilities started or anticipated trouble suddenly erupted. What balloon is this referring to?

[Quizmonster]

The "balloon goes up" phrase originated as such in the early 1920s. However, I believe it is related to the fact that another meaning for 'balloon', dating back to the 1600s, was a form of firework. It flew into the air before bursting into bright sparks of light. In other words, it was rather like the flares that many men will have been familiar with in the trenches of WWI. Hence, it may not be surprising that, a few years later, it had come to signify the start of an 'operation' or significant occasion.

[andy hughes]

The balloons in question were observation balloons used in both World Wars to notify gun batrteries of enemy positions, so just after the 'balloon went up' a barrage of shells would commence. Later the balloons were used to observe enemy planes and alert anti-aircraft gun crews, with a similar result.

[Quizmonster]

Fred/Andy, There is no record of the phrase "the balloon goes/went up" ever having been used during the Great War. The earliest reference in print - in 1924, as I said earlier - was actually to the start-time of a case in a magistrate's court! In a book on military slang, published in 1925, 'balloon' is listed as meanig: "any event such as a parade". P G Wodehouse used the phrase in the 30s to mean the moment of risk. The very first use of it in a direct military-action written context came in 1943. That example read: "Suddenly the balloon went up, there were 110s and 87s all around us..."

The one thing 'balloon' in this phrase never - including in my own earlier 'flare' speculation - seems to have meant is an actual balloon! Cheers

[andy hughes]

Me getting one over on muh colleague? Thought it was too good to be true! Thanks QM!

[Quizmonster]

Actually, Andy, I like your observation-balloon concept and it certainly may well lie behind the phrase's meaning. I just can't get over the fact that no-one ever made use of it during the war. (I'm beginning to sound like Uncle Albert in 'Only Fools & Horses', for goodness' sake!) Cheers