Played on real red balloons.
I loved the song 99 Luftballons by Lena when it came out in the mid-80's. It was an anti-nuclear weapons protest tune, but I liked the song more than I did its message. I used to read a lot of action novels and the phrase "the balloon has gone up" is often used to mean that trouble is quickly coming.
The origin of the phrase isn't clear, but I believe it's from one of these examples at Grammar-Monster.com:
Once the balloon has gone up means when trouble is here or in a period of trouble.
The term once the balloon has gone up derives from the First World War. Whenever enemy activity was expected, observations balloons would be released to monitor the enemy troop movements. As a result, the raising of these balloons, which were visible to all, soon became a sign of pending enemy action.
A Competing Theory
The term when the balloon goes up refers to the large barrage balloons which were raised on steel cables above British cities during the Second World War. The idea was that enemy bombers would keep away from the cities, fearing that the steel cables would slice through their wings. Therefore, when the barrage balloons went up, it was a sign for a city's inhabitants of a pending air raid.
I loved the song 99 Luftballons by Lena when it came out in the mid-80's. It was an anti-nuclear weapons protest tune, but I liked the song more than I did its message. I used to read a lot of action novels and the phrase "the balloon has gone up" is often used to mean that trouble is quickly coming.
The origin of the phrase isn't clear, but I believe it's from one of these examples at Grammar-Monster.com:
Once the balloon has gone up means when trouble is here or in a period of trouble.
The term once the balloon has gone up derives from the First World War. Whenever enemy activity was expected, observations balloons would be released to monitor the enemy troop movements. As a result, the raising of these balloons, which were visible to all, soon became a sign of pending enemy action.
A Competing Theory
The term when the balloon goes up refers to the large barrage balloons which were raised on steel cables above British cities during the Second World War. The idea was that enemy bombers would keep away from the cities, fearing that the steel cables would slice through their wings. Therefore, when the barrage balloons went up, it was a sign for a city's inhabitants of a pending air raid.
