balls to the wall

term used by pilots. when accelerating quickly, the throttle is pushed all the way to the panel and the throttle lever (ball) actually touches the panel (wall). hence, b-lls to the wall.
to push to the limit, go all out, full speed.
a very colorful phrase, one needs to be careful when using “b-lls to the wall”. although its real origin is very benign, mos people -ssume it is a reference to t-st-cl-s.
in fact it is from fighter planes. the “b-lls” are kn-bs atop the plane’s throttle control. pushing the throttle all the way forward, to the wall of the c-ckpit, is to apply full throttle.
“b-lls to the walls”
to go at full (unregulated) power

steam engines had mechanical regulators that consisted of a pair of hinged lever arms with a ball on the end of each arm, as the engine sped up the centrifugal force caused the arms to raise up closing a valve. if you adjust the regulator so that the arms go to horizontal (with the b-lls pointing to the wall) without closing the valve you are not limiting the speed of the engine.
when the captain called for b-lls to the wall, we stoked the fire and pushed the throttle to full.
term used to describe an intense, or extreme situation.

origin: in aviation, the throttles (or power levers) are usually sticks with ball shaped ends. when a pilot wants full power, he moves the throttle forward towards the front wall of the c-ckpit. thus, “b-lls to the walls” meant “full power”.
when dr. smith’s patient suffered a cardiac arrest, the code team went b-lls to the walls.
this term significantly predates airplanes all together. the term “b-lls to the wall” originated with james watt’s invention of the centrifugal governor used on early steam engines (circa 1774, well before the wright brothers at kitty hawk). over the years, these types of governors were adapted for use on various other types of engines, including many aircraft engines. some aircraft have a ball shape at the end of the throttle control, which is actually a clever reference to the governor mechanism, no doubt conceived by a witty designer. it is easy to see where one could get the (wrong) impression that “b-lls to the wall” would indicate the position of the throttle lever, when in fact, the term, strictly speaking, is a reference to the position of the weights on the governor.
increase engine speed! b-lls to the wall!
originally a military term for pushing maximum g-forces in a jetfighter aircraft, as in pushing the ball of a throttle as high up as it will go (virtually touching the wall of the dashboard).

fast; hectic; pushed to the limits
we hit the road, b-lls to the wall; the fighter let loose on his opponent, b-lls to the wall.
intense, extreme, to the max. the phrase comes from olde-fashioned steam engines; basically, they had two weighted b-lls attached to a vertical shaft which was connected to the engine. as the engine speed increased, these two b-lls would be raised higher because of centrifugal force! at top speed, they would be parallel to the ground, nearly touching the “walls” of the shaft! hence, “b-lls to the wall.”
“b-lls to the wall” is a phrase with an interesting origin. remember, when it comes to etymologies, the best story wins!