Go south
verb phrase
to fall or slide down; to decline; to fall in value
Examples
His golf game is going south.
Usage Note
slang; goes south, going south, went south, gone south
v.
“vanish, abscond,” 1920s, American English, probably from mid-19c. notion of disappearing south to Mexico or Texas to escape pursuit or responsibility, reinforced by Native American belief (attested in colonial writing mid-18c.) that the soul journeys south after death.
verb phrase
[probably fr the notion of disappearing south of the border, to Texas or to the Mexican border, to escape legal pursuit and responsibility; probably reinforced by the widespread Native American belief that the soul after death journeys to the south, attested in American Colonial writing fr the mid-1700s; GTT, ”Gone to Texas, absconded,” is found by 1839]
Deteriorate or decline, as in The stock market is headed south again. This expression is generally thought to allude to compasses and two-dimensional maps where north is up and south is down. However, among some Native Americans, the term was a euphemism for dying, and possibly this sense led to the present usage. [ ; first half of 1900s ]
Also see: go west
Read Also:
- Gospel
[gos-puh l] /ˈgɒs pəl/ noun 1. the teachings of Jesus and the apostles; the Christian revelation. 2. the story of Christ’s life and teachings, especially as contained in the first four books of the New Testament, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 3. (usually initial capital letter) any of these four books. 4. something regarded […]
- Gospel according to luke
was written by Luke. He does not claim to have been an eye-witness of our Lord’s ministry, but to have gone to the best sources of information within his reach, and to have written an orderly narrative of the facts (Luke 1:1-4). The authors of the first three Gospels, the synoptics, wrote independently of each […]
- Gospel according to mark
It is the current and apparently well-founded tradition that Mark derived his information mainly from the discourses of Peter. In his mother’s house he would have abundant opportunities of obtaining information from the other apostles and their coadjutors, yet he was “the disciple and interpreter of Peter” specially. As to the time when it was […]
- Gospel according to matthew
The author of this book was beyond a doubt the Matthew, an apostle of our Lord, whose name it bears. He wrote the Gospel of Christ according to his own plans and aims, and from his own point of view, as did also the other “evangelists.” As to the time of its composition, there is […]
- Gospeler
[gos-puh-ler] /ˈgɒs pə lər/ noun, Ecclesiastical. 1. a person who reads or sings the Gospel.