go wrong

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go wrong

1. To go awry or make a mistake. Where did I go wrong? Why is this pipe still leaking?

2. To misbehave after previous upright behavior. He was always such a good kid that I'm shocked to hear that he's in jail. I wonder what made him go wrong.

3. To malfunction. Well, the coffee pot went wrong again this morning, so can you pick up another one while you're at the mall?

See also: go, wrong

go wrong

to fail; [for something bad] to happen. The project failed. I don't know what went wrong. I'm afraid that everything will go wrong.

See also: go, wrong

go wrong

1. Go astray, make a mistake. For example, We made a left turn and somehow went wrong from then on, or You won't go wrong if you follow the directions in the dress pattern. [c. 1300]

2. Take to evil ways, become a criminal, as in As soon as he turned thirteen, Billy fell in with a gang and began to go wrong. [c. 1500]

3. Fail, turn out badly, as in Everything about this party has gone wrong. [Late 1500s]

4. Fail to work properly, as in The car starts fine, but as soon as you put it in gear, the transmission goes wrong. [Late 1800s]

See also: go, wrong

go ˈwrong

1 make a mistake with something: It doesn’t work. We must have gone wrong somewhere. Pass me the instruction manual. ♢ Where did we go wrong (= what mistakes did we make for things to be so bad)?
2 (of a machine) stop working correctly: This television keeps going wrong. I’m fed up with it.
3 not progress or develop as well as you expected or intended: Their marriage started to go wrong when he lost his job. ♢ What else can go wrong (= what other problems are we going to have)?

See also: go, wrong

go wrong

1. To go amiss; turn out badly: What went wrong with their business?

2. To make a mistake or mistakes: parents wondering where they went wrong raising their child.

3. To behave immorally after a period of innocence or moral behavior: a young man who went wrong.

See also: go, wrong

References in periodicals archive ?

Identifying particular things that can go wrong is not worthwhile, because one cannot possibly imagine them all, and one cannot manage them without first understanding the factors underlying each risk issue.

Revealing the wrongs: Enterprise risk management is mired in misconceptions that must be understood before efforts can be successful. (Risk Management Industry Strategies)

If things go wrong in moving the goods abroad due to errors made by the foreign buyer or their agents then the exporter may.

Avoid pitfalls when export pricing

He was happy to accept The Mirror's tag of 'Formula 1's Teflon Man' as things could go wrong but barely affect his championship chances.

Button apologises for McLaren's underperformance in Sepang Championship

That is not to say that individuals should never be accountable, but the priority should be to find out what goes wrong so that it doesn't go wrong again and not to be upset if we don't find an individual to blame.

Scapegoats are not the answer

There's more to go wrong THE more gadgetry there is on a car the more there is to go wrong, so they say.

There's more to go wrong

She said: "When things go wrong, patients should be able to raise concerns openly and know that lessons will be learned and they will get the help they need or compensation.

New compensation plan for patients

The accompanying article, which smack me as a really great idea, described what worries the insiders about what could go wrong if they turned from providers to customers of the health-care system.

Hospital confidential

Just about everything that could go wrong in Skoda Xanthi's UEFA Cup first round, first leg tie on Teesside did go wrong.

Things they'd rather forget

First of all, you must start from where things most often go wrong.

Rebuilds require experience, planning and more planning

In contrast to an economic cycle in which residential real estate continues to flourish, the story of Gregory Park, a 770-unit high-rise, limited equity cooperative complex in the heart of Jersey City, is a reflection of how best intentions can sometimes go wrong.

Banking on a white knight: Jersey City co-op turns around

And What to Do When Things Go Wrong (Nolo Press, 2nd edition, $14.

Travel hassle relief

But boss Mark Weaver admitted: "After a season like ours too many of the lads were wondering what would go wrong in the second half.