Paint the Town RedThe drunken rampage that colored our language

From the show

History of Phrases

In 1837, the Marquis of Waterford and his fox-hunting companions engaged in a notorious night of vandalism in the English town of Melton Mowbray. Fueled by alcohol, the group physically attacked a tollkeeper and literally painted the tollbar, doors, and a swan statue with red paint. This specific event of aristocratic hooliganism gave birth to the idiom used today for a wild night out.