Ever heard the phrase, “going like gangbusters?” Well here at the McDaniel Writing Center, our fall semester is already “going like gangbusters.” In our first week of tutoring, we’ve already seen more than three times as many people as we did during our first week last semester.
Photo courtesy of Times Past Old Time Radio Archives
Gangbusters, indeed. But, incidentally, where does that phrase even come from? According to UrbanDictionary.com,
Gang Busters was a famous radio program that was first heard in 1936 and aired until 1957. The sound effects of police sirens, tommyguns, and screeching tires that opened the show were dramatic and exciting — this inspired the expression ‘coming on like gangbusters’. Usage has opened up to describe things that are not just exciting, but successful, intense, and many other adjectives…
Exciting? Successful? Intense, even?
Sounds like us! Schedule your own appointment today to see what all the hype is about.
Josh Ambrose, Director
Email: JAmbrose@McDaniel.edu/Phone: 410.857.2420