going commando

Verb

go commando (third-person singular simple present goes commando, present participle going commando, simple past went commando, past participle gone commando)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To not wear underwear (chiefly underpants) under one's outer clothing.
   • Ross: … why do you have to wear underwear tonight?
     Joey: It's a rented tux, 'kay? I'm not gonna go commando in another man's fatigues.1996, Friends (TV series), "The One Where No One's Ready" [3.02], Act 2, approx. 12 minutes (of 23)
2. (broadly) To forgo standard protections.
   • I was one of the only soldiers out there wearing hearing protection; all the rest just went commando.2005, Shane A. Bernskoetter, Surviving Twilight: A soldier's chronicle of daily life in Iraq, →ISBN
3. (rare) To forgo something usually considered standard equipment.
   • When you want to learn how to use a specific piece of gear, such as a new lens, or master a specific technique, I advise that you go commando. When you go commando, you take just enough gear to master the technique you want to learn or only the lens with which you want to become more familiar.2011, Doug Sahlin, Digital Landscape and Nature Photography For Dummies, page 134