Balls to the wall did not originate with steam engines, as some of these "authority" figures on the matter state.
Remember, there were no televisions back then, nor radios, the primary media was writing in books and magazines.
An extremely cursory Google search will show you this term originated with pilots OF THE VIETNAM WAR ERA.
books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Balls+to+the+wall&year_start=1600&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CBalls%20to%20the%20wall%3B%2Cc0
Gg. I'm going to bed now. Ninite.
Remember, there were no televisions back then, nor radios, the primary media was writing in books and magazines.
An extremely cursory Google search will show you this term originated with pilots OF THE VIETNAM WAR ERA.
books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Balls+to+the+wall&year_start=1600&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CBalls%20to%20the%20wall%3B%2Cc0
Gg. I'm going to bed now. Ninite.
by CreQQ December 13, 2016
Get the Balls to the wallmug. by TheSeaWall September 22, 2017
Get the The Sea Wallmug. When you try to put a wall with Sage in a spot but you miss in a very tragic way that will possibly happen in tournements! (This can also cause you throwing rounds or even games)
by Mpampinos February 17, 2021
Get the Maggos Wallmug. One of the single most racist parts of an album ever, from The Wall by Pink Floyd (contains The Show Must Go On, In the Flesh, Run Like Hell, Waiting for the Worms, Stop, The Trial, and Outside the Wall)
Dude side 4 of the wall by Pink Floyd is nuts, they really just said coon and queer in a derogatory way
by Pink Floyd lover September 12, 2025
Get the side 4 of the wallmug. The physiological barrier you unexpectedly crash into after eating a large amount of meat.
Following impact with said wall, every bite afterwards is a nauseating, self-torturing challenge.
Following impact with said wall, every bite afterwards is a nauseating, self-torturing challenge.
by Douche McBaggins October 27, 2016
Get the Meat Wallmug. Kissing (with tongue) the partition wall between urinals where all the salty piss splatter builds up. An alternative bullying method to giving someone a swirly.
by psycho505 September 25, 2025
Get the Frenching the Wallmug. The 4th wall, is a “imaginary” wall that separated the audience(a example could be You, yes you, the one looking at me) and the character(a actor, video game character, anything that is behind the screen).when people say “breaking the 4th wall” it mean the character is interacting with the audience, not like “NPC to player”(a example would be, asking the player about quest), but more like “NPC to the person behind the screen”(example: you play overwatch, then play the untitlcard, then you tried to kill a NPC, who tell you “hey /your real name/ how about you play overwatch?then you can watch ur teammates die, not us”). breaking the 4th can happen in game, TV show…but don’t worry if they talk to you, if intend by the developers/directors, but if the character behind the screen know ur IP address, home, telephone number…here’s a advice “run”
Example 1 (not really)
NPC “don’t break the 4th wall (your real name), now shut the window 9 computer right now”
Bobo *delete game save*
NPC “are you trying to kill me? I saw you cheating on your gf, I’m gonna tell her”
Bobo “you can’t even do tha-
GF “why did I saw pictures of you with another girl?”
Bobo “oh-
Example 2:
Tim “buddy…do you think someone is watching us?
Joe “you mean that guy who’s now staring at me and listening to all our conversations from the start?”
Guy “MOMMY! JOE IS TALKING TO ME, MOMMY!”
mommy “don’t worry honey, he’s just breaking the 4th wall”
NPC “don’t break the 4th wall (your real name), now shut the window 9 computer right now”
Bobo *delete game save*
NPC “are you trying to kill me? I saw you cheating on your gf, I’m gonna tell her”
Bobo “you can’t even do tha-
GF “why did I saw pictures of you with another girl?”
Bobo “oh-
Example 2:
Tim “buddy…do you think someone is watching us?
Joe “you mean that guy who’s now staring at me and listening to all our conversations from the start?”
Guy “MOMMY! JOE IS TALKING TO ME, MOMMY!”
mommy “don’t worry honey, he’s just breaking the 4th wall”
by Error404.name(null) June 9, 2023
Get the 4th wallmug.