Like wildfire

Idiom: Like wildfire



Meaning: Spreading, growing or gaining popularity in an accelerated way; Quickly gaining attention. 

Context #1 – A new song was released by a very popular music artist.

Joc: Hey Clay, did you hear the new McPac-Man song? 
Clayton: No, why?
Joc: Dude, seriously?  It’s been spreading like wildfire.  It’s become so popular across the world, so quickly, that the president wants to meet him.
Clayton: No way!  That popular?
Larry:  Yeah!  They say it will be the track of the century.

Context #2 – The most popular kids in school started dating.

Jay: Manny started dating Jinkee.
Alice: I heard! OMG
Jay: Wow, I guess everybody knows.
Alice: I guess so.  Seems the news has been spreading like wildfire.
Jay:  Yeah, even our other campuses know about this romance.
Alice: Wow, it really is like wildfire
Jay: With social media, you can’t keep anything a secret for long.

Meaning: The idiom “like wildfire” means that information about something positive/negative has spread so quickly that it’s almost impossible to stop.  Spreading like wildfire means gaining popularity at a pace most people didn’t imagine possible.  The news become almost impossible to control.