
get the go-ahead
Meaning: To receive or grant permission to proceed.
Example: “The team finally got the go-ahead to start filming.”
Origin: "Go-ahead" as a noun for permission to proceed grew out of the plain command "go ahead," telling someone to move forward rather than wait — a natural extension once formal permission-granting needed a name of its own. The exact point at which "go-ahead" hardened from an instruction into a standalone noun isn't clearly documented, but the logic requires no elaborate backstory: getting the go-ahead means receiving the specific word that clears you to start, the same authorization a person waiting at a barrier or a checkpoint would need before being allowed through.
More English idioms
- give someone the green light To get or give permission to proceed.
- give someone the sack To be fired from one's job.
- give someone the third degree To be questioned in great detail.
- get something down pat To do something repeatedly until one knows how to do it without a mistake; to perfect an…
- the gift of gab The ability to speak easily and well.
- give in To surrender.
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