Go critical
Meaning
To reach a decisive, unstable, and often dangerous point where a self-sustaining process or chain reaction begins, often with serious consequences.
Origin
The phrase "go critical" burst into the global lexicon from the clandestine labs of the Manhattan Project during World War II. Physicists, racing against time, defined "criticality" as the precise point where a nuclear chain reaction becomes self-sustaining, unleashing immense energy. On December 2, 1942, beneath the stands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, Enrico Fermi and his team achieved the world's first sustained nuclear chain reaction with Chicago Pile-1. They literally brought the reactor "to criticality," marking a terrifying new era. This scientific jargon quickly escaped the confines of nuclear physics, evolving into a chilling metaphor for any situation teetering on the brink of an uncontrolled, irreversible, and potentially disastrous collapse or explosion.
Examples
- The project's budget issues had been brewing for months, but when the lead engineer resigned, the whole situation threatened to go critical.
- Environmentalists warned that the loss of biodiversity in the region was about to go critical, leading to irreversible ecosystem collapse.