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Synonyms

go to pot

Cultural  

  1. To decline or deteriorate: “Since most of the businesses moved out to the suburbs, my old neighborhood has really gone to pot.”

go to pot Idioms  

  1. 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.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“As my dad said, ‘As long as you can feed yourself, the whole world can go to pot, mijo, and you’ll be OK,’” he cracked.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2024

The transportation problem is a bipartisan issue: Democrats in Milwaukee County suffer just as much as the Republicans in Waukesha County when roads go to pot.

From Washington Times • Aug. 1, 2016

Those who are letting themselves go to pot and seed and rot, they’re not going to get it.

From Washington Post • Nov. 6, 2015

Photos of skipper Stephen Gerrard posing moodily with the newly-unveiled official tournament ball look incongruous against the headline describing manager England's chances as "pot luck", or the version: "England's hopes may go to pot."

From BBC • Dec. 4, 2013

So all our English plans will go to pot.

From Gallantry Dizain des Fetes Galantes by Cabell, James Branch

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.