I’m going down like a barrel of oysters.

[Nonverbis]

This is from the "Theatre" by William Maugham:

"The Colonel began to make little jokes with her and sometimes he pinched her ear playfully.
‘Now you mustn’t flirt with me, Colonel,’ she cried, giving him a roguish delicious glance. ‘Just because I’m an actress you think you can take liberties with me.’
‘George, George,’ smiled Mrs Gosselyn. And then to Julia: ‘He always was a terrible flirt.’
(‘Gosh, I’m going down like a barrel of oysters.’)"

In brackets are Julia's thoughts.

I have googled and found out that oysters had an aphrodisiac reputation.

What troubles me is "going down". Could you explain ma why it is used here?

 

[Tarheel]

I'm guessing it's a British expression. (That one puzzles me too.)

 

[emsr2d2]

This is from the "Theatre" by William Maugham:

"The Colonel began to make little jokes with her and sometimes he pinched her ear playfully.
‘Now you mustn’t flirt with me, Colonel,’ she cried, giving him a roguish delicious glance. ‘Just because I’m an actress you think you can take liberties with me.’
‘George, George,’ smiled Mrs Gosselyn. And then to Julia: ‘He always was a terrible flirt.’
(‘Gosh, I’m going down like a barrel of oysters.’)"

In brackets are Julia's thoughts. I have googled and found out that oysters had have an aphrodisiac reputation. What troubles confuses me is "going down". Could you explain to ma me why it is used here?

If we say that something "goes down like" something else, we mean that it has the same effect as the thing after "like". So Julia is thinking that she is having the same [aphrodisiac] effect on the colonel as a barrel of oysters would.

 

[Tarheel]

So being around her is like eating oysters, right? What if I would prefer some other seafood?

 

[Nonverbis]

is having the same [aphrodisiac] effect

I can't find this meaning in dictionaries.

go down like a lead balloon
go down like a lead zeppelin
go down like ninepins

 

[Nonverbis]

eating oysters

This is the closest meaning I have managed to find for myself.

The dictionary gives: if food or drink will/will not go down, it is easy/difficult to swallow.

So, the colonel as if was swollowing a barrel of oysters.

 

[emsr2d2]

I don't think you understood what I meant. There are some standard expressions, such as "go down like a lead balloon" but "go down like" can be followed by anything that has a fairly well recognised effect.

The three examples you gave all mean that something had a bad/disastrous outcome or effect. The phrase is commonly used for negative outcomes/effects. However, in your original example, it's actually used to say something positive.

 

[Tarheel]

Her presence supposedly has an aphrodisiac effect on him. Also, it's not like eating just one oyster. It's like eating a whole barrel of them.