![]() Very early, numerous attempts were made to explain the phrase to paint the town red.ġ-: ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN FOR CALLENDER’S MINSTRELS The day was hot, and my new acquaintance, as he expressed it, ‘a thirsty crittur ’ so each hotel we passed on our pilgrimage called forth the same observation, ‘I guess I shall go in and paint.’ Three times we ‘ painted’ accordingly. This particular use of paint is first recorded in Digby Grand: An Autobiography (London, 1853), by the Scottish novelist and poet George John Whyte-Melville (1821-78) the narrator has just met Squire Sauley, “ a real Yankee character”: The original allusion may also have been reinforced by the use of the verb paint in the sense of to drink. “Because red is the color of blood-fire-lightning-red-hot times, eh? If you should come in here to clean out Detroit, or if you were going on a high spree, or if you intended to raise an excitement, you would slant your hat over your left ear, spit over your right shoulder, and announce in a loud voice that you were going to paint the town red.” “My innocent friend,” replied the citizen, “the term does not refer exactly to paint and brushes. Do they paint the buildings, or sidewalks, or what? I don’t see any red around Detroit to speak of. “Almost every paper I pick up has something in it about somebody painting the town red. This allusion to festive lights illuminating a town was perhaps reinforced by the connotations of energy and excitement attached to the colour red, as exemplified by the beginning of Painting it Red, published in The Wheeling Daily intelligencer (Wheeling, West Virginia) of 8 th September 1884:Ī citizen who was waiting at the corner of Jefferson avenue and Wayne street yesterday was accosted by a man about 27 years old, who said he wanted a little information. 15.-The Democrats of Crockett County had a splendid procession, cannonade and painted the town red with fireworks, and shouted themselves hoarse. – On 16 th November 1884, The Daily American (Nashville, Tennessee) reported:īells, Tenn., Nov. The large crowd in waiting became hilarious, and it was proposed to “paint the town red” by means of a torchlight procession. ![]() – On 5 th November 1884, the Hawaiian Gazette (Honolulu, Hawaii) reported that, after the announcement of the result of the local vote for U.S. The two following passages support this hypothesis: My hypothesis is that the phrase originated in the image of a torchlit procession or/and of a firework display that illuminate(s) a town. Mountain Dew, my boy, is the liquid representative of a fiery furnace it is the elixir of a West Virginia Legislator’s life he would rather do without his dinner than his Mountain Dew, and whenever he wants to paint the town red or paralyze things by making a flowery speech, he gets gloriously full of Mountain Dew.ĭo these men paint the town red and make flowery speeches very often? Well, slightly its about the liveliest creature you ever saw when it is invited to take a little Mountain Dew. This, my boy, is a West Virginia Legislator. The second-earliest occurrence of the phrase that I have found from Legislative Primer, a satirical dialogue published in The Weekly Register (Point Pleasant, West Virginia) of 18 th January 1882: James Crockett, who has only been out of the county jail a short while, was likewise complimented for “ painting the town red,” and he is also visiting out of the city. Tommy Price, an ex-convict, left Owenton because the boys about town took him to the woods and flogged him. The earliest instance that I have found is from one of the unconnected paragraphs making up the column The Commonwealth, in The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) of 3 rd November 1881: The saying paint the town red means to go out, usually to bars, and have a night of debauchery.Of American-English origin, the colloquial phrase to paint the town red means to enjoy oneself flamboyantly, to go on a boisterous or exuberant spree. ![]() More stabbings occur when city residents paint the town red, cops said Tuesday.The article gives examples about nightclub stabbings. ![]() This excerpt explains that violence is more likely when people are acting wildly. Even with just $100, you can paint the town red without going into the red. Manhattan may seem like the most expensive place in America - you could make $10,000 disappear in a weekend if you really wanted - but it can also be cheap.The excerpt below is about how to enjoy a night out for cheap. But I’m older now, and I like having more relaxed weekends. Zayna: We used to gamble recklessly in casinos, meet strangers and go on adventures with them, and drink until we were way too drunk. Zayna: Do you remember when we used to go out and paint the town red every weekend, back when we were in college? This dialogue shows two friends talking together about an old memory they have of their days in university.
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