"to go" as a synonym of "to say" I'm an English language teacher, and was wondering if anyone has any details on the origin of this usage, where "to go" actually means "to say." I know that it's used informally, and almost exclusively in speech, but a coworker found an example of it being used in a children's book ("Bark, George" if you're curious), and I'd like to have a solid explanation of this usage in the future. i.e. I told my friend to be quiet, and he went, "calm down!"