Define paint the town red. Paint the town red synonyms, paint the town red pronunciation, paint the town red translation, English dictionary definition of paint the town red. A liquid mixture, usually of a solid pigment in a liquid vehicle, used as a decorative or protective coating.
Paint the Town Red MeaningDefinition: To celebrate with abandon; to have a wild outing. Origin of Paint the Town RedThe exact origins of this expression are unclear. One of its first uses in print as we know it today was in an 1884 edition of the Boston Journal:. Whenever there was any excitement or anybody got particularly loud, they always said somebody was “painting the town red.”Some sources speculate that it comes from a wild night in the year 1837 when the Marquis of Waterford literally painted several buildings red with his friends.
This man was famous for having many nights of mayhem.However, there is no evidence to support this event as the source of the. This dialogue shows two friends talking together about an old memory they have of their days in university.Zayna: Do you remember when we used to go out and paint the town red every weekend, back when we were in college?Ben: Of course I do! How could I forget?Zayna: We used to gamble recklessly in casinos, meet strangers and go on adventures with them, and drink until we were way too drunk. Do you ever miss those days?Ben: Yeah. But I’m older now, and I like having more relaxed weekends.Zayna: Yeah, me too.
More ExamplesThe excerpt below is about how to enjoy a night out for cheap. 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. Even with just $100, you can paint the town red without going into the red. –This excerpt explains that violence is more likely when people are acting wildly. The article gives examples about nightclub stabbings.
More stabbings occur when city residents paint the town red, cops said Tuesday. –SummaryThe saying paint the town red means to go out, usually to bars, and have a night of debauchery.
I don't believe this comes from the Marquis of Waterford, when all the early citations point to a US origin. I thought it would be interesting to trace the US origins to confirm or refute this. From what I found, this phrase came from 1880s Kentucky, USA, and described cowboys riding into town, getting drunk and causing havoc. Marquis of WaterfordHere's a of the Marquis painting people and doors and windows in 1837 Melton Mowbray, UK, but there's nothing (verifiable) in Google Books for paint the town red from before 1884, then suddenly eight examples, I think all American, and most inside quotes suggesting it's a new phrase. Oxford English DictionaryThe earliest OED citations are from the US.
The first from a July 1883 New York Times:Mr. James Hennessy offered a resolution that the entire body proceed forthwith to Newark and get drunk.? Then the Democrats charged upon the street cars, and being wafted into Newark proceeded, to use their own metaphor, to ‘paint the town red’.The second is an 1884 US Boston Journal:Whenever there was any excitement or anybody got particularly loud, they always said somebody was ‘painting the town red’. US newspapers: a Kentucky originSearching the Chronicling America newspaper archive, I found many examples from 1882 and 1883, before the OED's earliest July 1883.
Most interestingly, all are from Kentucky papers.