[General] go to pot = go to the dog

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence from Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”?

You ran into another white hunter and you asked, “How is everything going?” and he answered, “Oh, I’m still drinking their whisky,” and you knew every thing had gone to pot.

go to pot = fall through, be ruined, come to a bad end = go to the dog

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

[emsr2d2]

Originally Posted by vil

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence from Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”?

You ran into another white hunter and you asked, “How is everything going?” and he answered, “Oh, I’m still drinking their whisky,” and you knew every thing everything had gone to pot.

go to pot = fall through, be ruined, come to a bad end = go to the dog

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

To go to pot = to go wrong, to fall apart - your understanding is right.

To go to the dogs means the same thing, but note it's dogs, not dog.