Relating to projectiles or their flight paths through the air under the influence of gravity. Also used colloquially to describe someone becoming extremely angry or excited.
From Latin ballista, a ancient siege engine for hurling large stones, derived from Greek ballein meaning 'to throw.' The scientific study of projectile motion gave rise to the field of ballistics in the 17th century.
The phrase 'going ballistic' originated in the 1960s military slang, comparing an angry person's explosive reaction to a ballistic missile's trajectory. Interestingly, ballistic missiles actually follow a predictable parabolic path, making the metaphor somewhat ironic for describing unpredictable human behavior.
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