Also, get or have a go or shot or whack at ; take a crack at. Make an attempt or have a turn at doing something. For example, Let me have a crack at assembling it, or I had a shot at it but failed, or Dad thinks he can-let him have a go at it, or Dave had a whack at changing the tire, or Jane wants to take a crack at it. The oldest of these colloquialisms is have a shot at, alluding to firing a gun and first recorded in 1756; crack and go date from the 1830s, and whack from the late 1800s.