anything-goes

The phrase "anything goes" originates from the common English words "anything" and "goes," used in their literal senses to mean "any thing is permissible" or "any thing passes." Its crystallization into a hyphenated compound adjective is a 20th-century development, heavily popularized by its use as the title of a 1934 Cole Porter musical and song. The phrase encapsulates a pragmatic or libertarian philosophy where conventional norms are suspended, reflecting a cultural shift towards permissiveness. As a lexicalized unit, it now serves as a concise descriptor for environments—from artistic movements to social contexts—devoid of traditional constraints.

This is a fixed idiomatic compound formed from the free morpheme "anything" (Old English ǣniġ þing) and the verb "goes" (Old English gāþ, third person singular present of gān). It functions as a single lexical unit.