Etymology

On August 20, 1986, something awful took place at the post office in Edmond, Oklahoma. A postal worker about to be fired from his job turned his place of work into a scene of carnage. Using three guns, he killed 14 fellow workers and wound six others before killing himself.

Most of the victims were gunned down as they sat or stood at their work stations. One died in the parking lot behind the building, apparently shot down as he tried to flee.

After the massacre, dazed survivors tearfully hugged co-workers and family in the office parking lot, thanking God that they had managed to escape a co-worker’s handgun rampage, which eventually resulted in 15 deaths.

The next day, a score of postal workers, pale and shaken but showing remarkable determination, quietly filed into the post office to take up their jobs.
      “I don’t know what to expect when I get in there," said a female delivery carrier. “I feel scared.”

Police reported that 44-year-old Patrick Henry Sherrill had been working on a part-time basis and facing a dismissal notice. He walked into the post office about 7 a.m. and opened fire on workers sorting through the mail to prepare for their morning routes.

Co-workers described the gunman as a quiet yet disgruntled man. Some of them said that they were not surprised by his actions. As a loner, he talked of Vietnam at length. However, he never served there. Though quiet, he seemed to be brimming with pent-up anger. His neighbors told the reporters that he sometimes acted like a peeping Tom and called him “crazy Pat”. He always thought that the laughter of neighborhood children was directed at him. Pat had many interests during his 44 years, but he had few friends.

Pat was cremated and his ashes buried at the gravesite of his parents in a brief, private service attended by 25 friends and relatives. At last, he rested at peace.

This phrase, of course, does not show up in my old dictionary (The Random House College Dictionary) because it was published in 1975.

Verb phrase

Its meaning is as follows:

• go insane

Synonyms

• go insane
• go crazy
• become dumb
• become psycho
• go kaput

Usage

After he lost his job, he went postal. He returned to the office with a gun and shot the manager.

As you know, “postal” is usually used as follows:

The postal worker lost his temper when the stamp machine broke.

John lost the postal address of his ex-girlfriend.

Of course, you can omit “postal” in the above example. However, “address” has another meaning as shown below.

President Bush made an address when he secretly visited the GI camp in Iraq.

To be on the safe side, therefore, you may add postal to clarify the meaning.