to go the way of

25 7.1

To stop being used and disappear like the typewriter

phrasal verb

: sufrir el mismo destino

The typewriter will go the way of the horse and buggy.

And she ends up saying you've gone the way of the others, the bounty hunters before you.

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Examples

If Uber has its way, its drivers will soon go the way of lamplighters, replaced by self-driving vehicles.

Academic text (2018)
Many people think coal in the U.S. went the way of top hats and corsets.

Academic text (2006)
And you know, yes, the big companies will go the way of the system.

Rob Moore
So it starts to go the way of Russia in a sense at that point in time.

Big Think
And that it will, before long... go the way of most small things.

Living (2022)
And our entire culture, our entire country is just going to go the way of Russia and Hungary.
If America goes the way of Detroit, that would be another kind of suicide.

America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014)
Neighborhood social events had gone the way of the buggy.

Fiction book (1990)
The Republicans aren't stupid, and they aren't going the way of the Whigs either.

Blog text (2)
The typewriter will go the way of the horse and buggy.

Synonyms

to die

vsto go the way of

311 4.8

To stop being felt, as a feeling or idea

means sharing another thing's fate rather than simply ending on its own

to go under

vsto go the way of

51 4.4

Fail because of money problems

is about sharing another's fate rather than only business failure

to pass away

vsto go the way of

22 3.5

To slowly disappear or stop existing

is about sharing another thing's fate rather than only gradual disappearance

to go up in smoke

vsto go the way of

Informal

18 5.5

Plans or hopes suddenly fail and disappear for good

is used to say something shares another thing's fate not sudden failure

to turn to dust

vsto go the way of

14 6.6

To be completely ruined and lose all value

is about sharing another thing's fate rather than meaning total destruction

to die away

vsto go the way of

9 4.2

To become quieter and then stop

focuses on sharing another's fate rather than slow fading of effects

to go to the dogs

vsto go the way of

Informal

7 6.1

To become much worse or ruined

describes sharing another thing's fate rather than gradual decline

to sink like a stone

vsto go the way of

Informal

4 6.7

Fall or fail very quickly and completely

focuses on sharing another thing's fate rather than rapid collapse

to go the way of the dodo

vsto go the way of

3 8.6

To stop being used and disappear completely

is used to show something shares another thing's fate rather than only vanishing

Antonyms

to thrive

233 3.2

To grow well and be successful

to prosper

85 3.7

To become successful or grow well, often by making money

How Obsolete

to obsolete

1 6.0

to fade away

86 3.0

to go the way of

25 7.1

to decline

264 3.7

to survive

18 2.5

Surface Forms

go the way of infinitive

went the way of past

gone the way of past participle

going the way of present participle

goes the way of third person singular

Morphology

go + the + way + of

The meaning is partly recoverable from the parts: 'go' (to come to be/cease) plus 'the way of' (the manner or path/fate of someone) gives the idea of following the same fate. However, the construction is metaphorical/idiomatic in use (e.g. 'go the way of the dinosaurs' = become extinct), so a B1 learner who knows the words may only partly infer the precise sense without prior exposure.

Etymology

The phrase go the way of may come from the picture of something following the same path as a thing that has already disappeared, like the dodo. One popular story says people talked about things that 'went the way of the dodo', meaning they were gone, so go the way of now means 'to disappear' or 'to become old-fashioned'.