paint the town red

Meaning

Verb

• To party or celebrate in a rowdy, wild manner, especially in a public place.

Origin

• US slang. Earliest known use 1884. Various theories include the red from bonfires, the heat from over-stoked paddle-wheel boilers, and town demarcation lines in the Wild West. A British claim attributing it to the actions of the Third Marquess of Waterford predates the first known use by decades.