balls to the wall

Improve your language skills dept.:

O'Hare Approach: "United 143, best forward speed to the marker. You are number one." United 143 (male voice): "Roger, balls to the wall." ORD Approach: "American 245, you're number two behind a United 737. Follow him, cleared visual, at your best forward speed." American 245 (female voice): "Well, I can't do balls to the wall, but I can go wide open." Radio silence. Unknown male voice: "Is American hiring?" 

[cyberjoke3000] October 29, 2013

It was easy to find the "ball to the wall" etymology. It took a little bit of a creative googling to fit the "to go wide open" in the context". It is interesting that "to go wide open" refers to the not-technically-correct explanation of the "balls to the wall".  Still, a gem of the professionally-related humour. 


1. balls to the wall
term used by pilots. when accelerating quickly, the throttle is pushed all the way to the panel and the throttle lever (ball) actually touches the panel (wall). Hence, balls to the wall.

6. balls to the wall
This term significantly predates airplanes all together. The term "balls to the wall" originated with James Watt's invention of the centrifugal governor used on early steam engines (circa 1774, well before the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk). Over the years, these types of governors were adapted for use on various other types of engines, including many aircraft engines. Some aircraft have a ball shape at the end of the throttle control, which is actually a clever reference to the governor mechanism, no doubt conceived by a witty designer. It is easy to see where one could get the (wrong) impression that "balls to the wall" would indicate the position of the throttle lever, when in fact, the term, strictly speaking, is a reference to the position of the weights on the governor.
Increase engine speed! Balls to the wall!

7. balls to the wall
Intense, extreme, to the max. The phrase comes from olde-fashioned steam engines; basically, they had two weighted balls attached to a vertical shaft which was connected to the engine. As the engine speed increased, these two balls would be raised higher because of centrifugal force! At top speed, they would be parallel to the ground, nearly touching the "walls" of the shaft! Hence, "balls to the wall."

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=balls%20to%20the%20wall


"On the morning of May 20, 1927, the Spirit of St. Louis stood poised at the end of the runway at Roosevelt Field, Long Island. At 7:51 a.m., Lindbergh tucked a paper bag containing five sandwiches and a canteen of water under his seat, buckled his seat belt, pulled googles over his eyes, nodded to the mechanics below, and eased the throttle wide open. The heavily laden plane moved slowly forward, then picked up speed, and took off."


Airplane, Harold Faber, 2006, p.61