Dictionary

go commando en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Cited since 1974, as university slang; explanations as to original meanings differ.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To not wear underwear (chiefly underpants) under one's outer clothing.
   • A little girl in pink exited one of the stalls with her mother behind her. “I wear big girl underpants now!” she proclaimed. She looked up at my sister. “Do you wear big girl underpants?” Nicki stared down at her. “No, I generally go commando.” 2008, Jennifer Weiner, The Guy Not Taken, →ISBN:
   • Cute, but I saw a panty line. I stripped my panties off. No time to do more shopping—I'd just go commando. 2012, Jessica Sims, Desperately Seeking Shapeshifter, →ISBN:
   • Ross: … why do you have to wear underwear tonight? Joey: It's a rented tux, 'kay? I'm not gonna go commando in another man's fatigues. 1996, Friends (TV series), "The One Where No One's Ready" [3.02], Act 2, approx. 12 minutes (of 23)
2. (broadly) To forgo standard protections.
   • Does this mean you shouldn’t bother setting a password on your network? Absolutely not — WPA/WPA2 are still much better options than WEP or going commando, but it's important to realize that these “protected” setups aren't bulletproof. 2013 September 16, Michael Gregg, “Is Anything Safe Online?”, in Huffington Post:
   • It may even be a minority of one. I carry my phone around just the way the deities made it. It happens to be an iPhone, but I'd feel just the same about a Samsung Galaxy -- especially the Edge series, which strikes me as quite beautiful. Is there no way you can let your phone go commando? 2016 May 22, Chris Matyszczyk, “Why I'll never buy an iPhone case”, in CNET-:
   • I was one of the only soldiers out there wearing hearing protection; all the rest just went commando. 2005, Shane A. Bernskoetter, Surviving Twilight: A soldier's chronicle of daily life in Iraq, →ISBN:
3. (rare) To forgo something usually considered standard equipment.
   • The University of Maryland University College is the largest institution in the country to go "commando" on textbooks. 2016 March 9, Dian Schaffhauser, “How to Go Textbook Free”, in Campus Technology:
   • Coding Horror author Jeff Atwood believes, “One of the quickest ways to increase your productivity on the computer is to go commando: stop using the mouse.” 2015 August 24, Firas Kittaneh, “10 Ways to Kill the Distractions and Supercharge Your Productivity”, in Entrepreneur:
   • When you want to learn how to use a specific piece of gear, such as a new lens, or master a specific technique, I advise that you go commando. When you go commando, you take just enough gear to master the technique you want to learn or only the lens with which you want to become more familiar. 2011, Doug Sahlin, Digital Landscape and Nature Photography For Dummies, page 134:

Forms

Hyponyms

freeball · freeboob · freebox

Translations (6)

cs chodit naostro (go without underwear) · cmn 真空 (go without underwear) · sv köra kommando (go without underwear) · sv gå kommando (go without underwear) · ja ノーパン (go without underwear) · nb gå kommando (go without underwear)