anything goes

1. Everything is permitted, as in You're wearing sneakers to the office?—Why not? Anything goes these days. This idiom began life as everything goes, which appeared in George Meredith's novel The Egoist (1879). In America anything was the preferred word, which gained further currency with Cole Porter's use of the term as the title of his 1934 song and musical comedy, Anything Goes!

Example Sentences

“Do what you must, then. But keep an eye on those children, Miss Lumley. And if anything goes amiss, remember...you can always bring ’em to the vet.”

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Her last outing on a Broadway stage as a performer came in Kathleen Marshall’s 2011 Tony-winning revival of “Anything Goes,” starring Sutton Foster.

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“However,” the Soviet official cautioned, “if anything goes wrong on the bridge, you are to return with us. Do you understand that?”

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Experts also advise traveling in groups, and bringing a satellite communication device to contact help if anything goes wrong.

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We also help each other out if anything goes wrong—a flat tire or something.

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