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Glite Dictionary
to go to the bow-wows

to go to the bow-wows

9.9
To become ruined and fail completely
  • idiom
  • Archaic
translation icon : ir al traste
  • Many believed the old hotel had already gone to the bow-wows long before it closed.

Examples

  • Don't let your dreams go to the bow-wows!

  • After the new manager was hired, the company began to go to the bow-wows.

  • If you keep neglecting your responsibilities, your career will go to the bow-wows.

  • If you don't manage your finances, your business will go to the bow-wows.

  • If we don't act quickly, our project will go to the bow-wows within months.

  • The company has been mismanaged for years, and now it's going to the bow-wows.

  • His careless spending has caused the family's finances to go to the bow-wows.

Synonyms

to go belly up
vsto go to the bow-wows
  • Informal
15 5.3

To fail completely and close, especially a business or project

is used for a wide range of situations declining badly not only businesses
to go pear-shaped
vsto go to the bow-wows
  • UK
3 7.9

To fail or go badly wrong, especially a plan

involves total decline or ruin rather than only going badly wrong
to go in the toilet
vsto go to the bow-wows
  • Informal
1 7.9

To fail completely

applies to situations and businesses rather than only plans or efforts
up the boohai
vsto go to the bow-wows
  • New Zealand
9.9

A plan or project that goes badly and fails completely

is a neutral idiom used more widely outside that regional use
to belly-flop
vsto go to the bow-wows
  • Informal
6.9

To fail completely in an embarrassing way

is about decline or ruin without implying public embarrassment

Antonyms

to flourish
116 4.1

To grow strongly and be healthy or successful

to prosper
88 3.7

To become successful or grow well, often by making money

How Ruined

to go to the bow-wows
  • Archaic
9.9
to collapse
579 3.9
to go to the dogs
  • Informal
6 6.1
to deteriorate
146 5.9
to go downhill
  • Informal
37 3.9

Surface Forms

go to the bow-wows infinitive

Morphology

go + to + the + bow-wows

The phrase maps onto the familiar metaphor 'go to the dogs' where 'bow-wows' evokes dog noises, so a learner who recognises 'bow-wows' as dog sounds could infer a sense of decline or ruin. However, 'bow-wows' is an uncommon, dialectal variant and the idiomatic destination-of-dogs metaphor is culturally specific, so the meaning is only partially predictable without exposure.

Etymology

Go to the bow-wows may come from the older saying 'go to the dogs' and uses bow-wows as the barking sound of dogs. That image of something ending up with noisy, unwanted dogs explains why it means 'to be ruined'.