Paint the Town Red

Contents

You may have heard someone using the saying ‘paint the town red’ during a conversation, but what does this phrase mean? We will take a look at its meaning along with finding out a little bit about where the phrase first came from. We will also look at how the term can be used in a day to day conversation.

“Paint the Town Red” Meaning

When someone says that they are going to ‘paint the town red’ they are saying that they are going to go out, most likely in the evening, and have a wonderful time. It refers to an evening out where drinking alcohol will likely be involved and a lot of hyped up behaviour.

Origin of this idiom

The term ‘paint the town red’ is believed to have originated from a night of drunkenness which occurred in the mid 1800s in the town of Melton Mowbray in English. On this night the people involved literally painted various things around the town red.

“Paint the Town Red” Examples

Examples in Statements

This is a statement being made by a friend to another friend.

‘It’s my birthday next week, we should go out and paint the town red.’

Here is a statement made in a blog post.

‘For those who want to paint the town red, London is an ideal place to go.’

Other examples:

Tonight, we’re going to paint the town red!
Today is Friday! Let’s paint the town red tonight.
With so much money, we can really paint the town red.
I’ve just won a prize on the Premium Bonds . Let’s go out and paint the town red!
Richard has passed his exam. We are going to paint the town red tonight.

Conversation Examples

If you would like to see how the term ‘paint the town red’ can be used in a conversation, here are some examples to demonstrate that.

The first conversation is taking place between two sisters.

Person 1: “I think we should take mom out this weekend and treat her.”
Person 2: “What were you thinking of doing?”
Person 1: “I think we should take her out and paint the town red.”

This next conversation is occurring between a boss and an employee.

Person 1: “You have worked really hard this week.”
Person 2: “Yes, i am so tired now but I have to go and meet some friends for drinks tonight.”
Person 1: “You deserve a night off, never mind being tired, go and paint the town red.”

Other Ways to Say “Paint the Town Red”

There are other ways in which you can say the phrase ‘paint the town red.’

Here are some examples of things you might say in it’s place.

Kick up your heels
Go on a bender

Liam Daniel

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