(See also SUCCESS.)

flourish like a green bay tree Thrive vigorously; succeed overwhelmingly. Every year, the bay tree is adorned with numerous new branches growing along the entire length of its trunk. This characteristic, from which the expression is derived, is alluded to in the Bible:

go great guns To proceed with great momentum toward one’s goal; to be well on the way to success; to act with gusto or go full steam ahead. Dating from the early 15th century, great gun referred to a large fire-arm like a cannon, as opposed to a small gun ‘musket, rifle.’ By the late 1800s, these uses of great and small became obsolete—however, the exclamation great guns gained currency, perhaps alluding to the loudness, forcefulness, and bigness of cannon and other large fire-arms.

To go great guns appeared later and has since been current.

go to town To be successful, to thrive or prosper; to work very hard or energetically. This American slang expression is thought to have originated among the rural inhabitants of the backwoods who really whooped it up when they went out on the town for a spree.

land-office business A highly successful, very profitable, rapidly expanding business or enterprise; any period of high-volume sales. Although this expression has been in use for well over a hundred years, its popularity increased when the United States Government Land Office, after the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862, was swamped with work as hundreds of thousands of families and speculators sought free or low-cost land. Though the onslaught had eased by 1900, the Homesteading Program was not terminated until 1974. The phrase, however, has continued in widespread figurative use.

sail before the wind To be successful or prosperous; to proceed smoothly and easily, without outside interference; to breeze through a task, project, or other matter. This expression alludes to a sailing vessel’s moving forward smoothly and rapidly when it has a following wind to fill the sails.