Beware of Davy Jones’s locker!

Today’s English
July 9th, 2017

Go is a VIP in English.  It’s the most frequently exploited word, especially in spoken English.  It’s known to many as a verb but its uses as a noun are many.  Some of the expressions and uses of go which are less familiar but very fruitful are given below.

1.Go = turn

A.It’s your go. /Get ready. Next is his go. (= Its your turn./ Next is his turn.)
B.Whose go is next?

2.Go = attempt, try

A.I passed this exam second go. (=at the second attempt)
B.It’s very difficult to get through IAS exam at one go. (=in single attempt)
C.“I can start my bike.”  Let me have a go. (=let me try for you)

3.Be all go/be on the go = be very busy

A.He’s all go.  You can’t see him now.
B.Are you all go now? When will you be free?
C.She has been on the go throughout the day

4.Let go = stop holding of somebody/something

A.Let go! Leave me alone.
B.Let go of worldly affairs to attain self realisation.

5.Gone or been?
Both gone and been are past participle of go. The former means just “go" but the latter means “go and return".

A.He has gone to canteen.
B.He has been to canteen. (He went to canteen and returned now.

6.All show and no go = appealing or looking good but performing poor

A.He really made a mess of the programme. He’s just all show and no go.
B.Don’t buy these things from platform vendors. It’s all show and no go.

7.Go = be spent or used for

A.Most of my salary goes on my kid’s education. (=is spent)
B.My pregnant purse soon becomes empty. I don’t know where the money goes.

8.Go = disappear, be lost

A.How are you feeling now? I mean, your headache. Is it gone?
B.On my return, I found that my bag was gone. (=was stolen by someone)

9.Go + adjective : become /reach a state (go blind, go bald, go angry, etc.)

A.If you use shampoo, soon your head goes bald.
B.He has gone mad ever since she left him.

10.Davy Jones’s locker = place in the sea where drowning people go

A.Beware of Davy Jones’s locker. Don’t go there to swim.
B.All the four college students who went to bathe in the sea got into Davy Jones’s locker.

“ men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever. “
    - Tennyson in “The Brooke"