go to pot
To deteriorate or go awry. Boy, this party has really gone to pot. First, there was the issue with the caterer, and now half the guests aren't coming. Their marriage eventually went to pot after he discovered that his wife was having an affair. I thought I would be able to get a lot of people to sign my petition, but things have really gone to pot now. I'll be lucky if I can scrounge up 10 signatures!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
go to pot
and go to the dogsFig. to go to ruin; to deteriorate. My whole life seems to be going to pot. My lawn is going to pot. I had better weed it.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
go to pot
Also,
go to the dogs. Deteriorate, decline; come to a bad end. For example,
My lawn has gone to pot during the drought, or
The city schools are going to the dogs. The first of these colloquial expressions dates from the late 1500s and alludes to inferior pieces of meat being cut up for the stewpot. The second, from the 1600s, alludes to the traditional view of dogs as inferior creatures. Also see
rack and ruin;
run to seed.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
go to pot
INFORMALIf something goes to pot, its condition becomes very bad, because it has not been properly looked after. The neighbourhood really is going to pot. My figure went to pot after I had Daniel.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
go to pot
deteriorate through neglect. informal The idea here is of chopping ingredients up into small pieces before putting them in the pot for cooking, and from this comes the sense ‘be ruined or destroyed’.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
go (all) to ˈpot
(informal) be spoiled because people are not working hard or taking care of things: This whole country’s going to pot. ♢ She used to write very nicely, but her handwriting’s really gone to pot now she uses a computer all the time.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
gone to pot
Ruined, destroyed. This seemingly modern slang expression dates from the sixteenth century. John Heywood’s 1546 proverb collection includes “The weaker goeth to the potte,” referring to being cut into pieces like stew meat for the pot, and Sir John Harington’s translation of Orlando Furioso (1591) has “If any more we take the field, our side goes to the pot.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer
go to pot
Become useless. When a chicken or other edible farm animal out-lived its earthly utility, it would be cooked and eaten. That's the pot to which it would go.
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price