Going postal

Going postal is an American English slang phrase referring to becoming extremely angry or uncontrollable, often to the point of violence, and usually in a workplace environment. Between 1970 and 1997, more than 40 people were killed by then-current or former employees in at least 20 incidents of workplace rage. Between 1986 and 2011, workplace shootings happened roughly twice per year, with an average of 1.18 people killed per year. The expression derives from a series of incidents from 1986 onward in which United States Postal Service (USPS) workers shot and killed people in acts of mass murder. Origin The earliest known written use of the phrase was on December 17, 1993, in the American newspaper the St. Petersburg Times: The symposium was sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, which has seen so many outbursts that in some circles excessive...