go haywire
informal phrase

- to stop working correctly

- to go out of control or start doing the wrong thing

- to become wildly confused, out of control, or crazy

The Cambridge Dictionary / Collins Dictionary / Dictionary dot com

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PHRASE ORIGIN

The idiom "go haywire" is thought to have originated in the mid-19th century, and is believed to be a reference to the use of baling wire, a type of wire used to bind hay bales. Baling wire is often weak and prone to breaking, and if it breaks, it can cause the hay bale to fall apart or become tangled.

The earliest recorded use of the phrase "go haywire" was in 1875, in a newspaper article that described a train derailment. The article said that the train's brakes had "gone haywire" which caused it to crash.

The phrase "go haywire" has since been used to describe a variety of situations in which things are not going according to plan. It can be used to describe machines that malfunction, plans that go wrong, or people who lose their temper.

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GOLDEN PASSPORTS GOING HAYWIRE

In recent years, the allure of so-called “Golden Passports” and residency schemes has surged, with Caribbean nations like Dominica leading the charge. For a mere $100,000 “donation” or a $200,000 real estate investment, citizenship is yours – unlocking visa-free travel to the EU and Schengen area.

But this lucrative practice has raised eyebrows among anti-corruption watchdogs. Transparency International's Eka Rostomashvili warns, "The EU and UK have scrapped their own programs due to concerns over corruption and money laundering”.

Dominica, however, remains steadfast in its golden passport scheme, citing the dwindling banana exports as a driving force.

In a recent press conference, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit defended the scheme, stating revenues from the scheme (estimated at over $1bn since 2009) has underwritten a significant part of economic and social development in Dominica. He highlighted the construction of thousands of homes, improved healthcare, strengthened national security, and diversification of the economy, particularly in agriculture and tourism.

Despite the economic benefits, the golden passport program remains a contentious issue, turning a symbol of national identity into a mere commodity for the privileged few.

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SYNONYMS

act out of turn, act up, all hell breaks loose, batty, become unhinged, blow a fuse, bonkers, bottom falls out, bounce off the walls, come apart at the seams, come unglued, cuckoo, derail, descend into chaos, detonate, disarrange, discombobulate, disintegrate, disorganize, disrupt, fall apart at the seams (off the deep end, to pieces), flip out (your lid), fly off the handle, freak out, get out of hand, go ballistic (ape, bananas, batty, beserk, bonkers, crackers, crazy, cuckoo, insane, loony, mad, nuts, off the rails, rogue, screwy, to pieces, wacky, wild), GO HAYWIRE, have a meltdown, lose it (one's cool, one's marbles, one's mind, one's temper, the plot, your mind, your rag), malfunction, nuts and bolts come loose, out of control (of kilter, of order, of whack), run amok (amuck), the wheels come off, the whole thing falls apart, throw a fit, turn into a circus, unwind, unhinged, unglued, unravelling

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“The book ‘Fantasyland: How America WENT HAYWIRE: A 500-Year History is the best explanation of how Donald Trump became president of the United States.”

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THANKS to Sabine for suggesting today's word!

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