| 释义 |
gone to pot
gone to pot - Comes from Elizabethan times, when leftover meat was thrown into a big pot for another meal.See also related terms for throwing.gone to pot
go to potTo 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.See also: go, potgo 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.See also: go, potgo to potAlso, 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. See also: go, potgo 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.See also: go, potgo 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’.See also: go, potgo (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.See also: go, potgone to potRuined, 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.”See also: gone, potgo to potBecome 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.See also: go, potEncyclopediaSeepotFinancialSeePot |