Entry · catalog no. 7311
on go
/ /ɒn ˈɡoʊ/ /on GOH
phrase · Chicago, Midwest · 2010s
✓ Verified
1.
Ready to move at any second — ready to fight, ready to act, no hesitation. To be on go is to be already past the point of talking.
“Don't play with him, he stay on go.”
Origin & Attribution
Chicago drill culture, early 2010s. Out of the same South Side vocabulary that gave "drill" its meaning of going on a mission, "on go" names the state of readiness for whatever comes. Documented in glossaries of drill slang and carried worldwide by Chicago drill music.
early 2010s
Emerges in Chicago drill speech
2018
Cataloged in drill-slang glossaries
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The Midwest
Chicago, Midwest · 2010s
Spoken by
Chicago drill scene; spread nationally
$ONGOThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Rising14 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
55/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
2012
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@chitown
Chicago, IL
@detlex
Detroit, MI
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See also