What does the phrase 'Go Figure' mean?

Answer 1

It means basically "who would have imagined that such a thing would happen?" You use it at the end of a statement where you have imparted some startling news. This can be a genuine statement of surprise, but is most often used sarcastically, meaning "we certainly could have imagined that happening."

"We had another pop quiz in Math today. Go figure." or "Tina showed up at the party already drunk. Go figure."

Answer 2

To figure means to calculate (as in, do figures), and in this case is extended to mean "think through", a meaning for "to figure" also found in "figure it out"( think about it until you understand it).

When someone tells you to go figure, it literally means they want you to think about something. When the "something" isn't specified (the phrase is used at the end of another phrase or by itself), it refers to whatever has just been said, and indicates that the speaker thinks there's something funny about it (though often it's black humour and it's depressing as soon as you stop laughing), and almost always about someone (or mankind as a whole) being stupid or Murphy's law applying. Can often be replaced with "which was to be expected" or "can you believe anyone in his right mind would do that?"

Answer 3

'Go figure' means 'who would have believed it?!' You hear this when something surprising has happened.