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Glite Dictionary
up the boohai

up the boohai

9.9
A plan or project that goes badly and fails completely
  • idiom
  • New Zealand
translation icon : salió mal
  • The plan was well-intentioned, but it soon went up the boohai after a series of mistakes.

Examples

  • If we miss today's deadline, this project could go up the boohai.

  • Everything went up the boohai during the event!

  • After the main investor pulled out, the whole deal went up the boohai.

  • It seems like the project has gone up the boohai.

  • After the main investor pulled out, the whole deal went up the boohai.

  • If we miss today's deadline, this project could go up the boohai.

  • The plan was well-intentioned, but it soon went up the boohai after a series of mistakes.

Synonyms

down the pan
vsup the boohai
  • UK
1 9.9

Completely ruined or wasted and no longer useful

is the informal NZ phrase for total failure
up the creek without a paddle
vsup the boohai
  • Informal
1 9.9

A very bad situation with no way to fix it

is stronger, meaning total failure rather than just a hard problem
up the river without a paddle
vsup the boohai
  • Informal
1 9.9

To be in a difficult situation with no way out

is used to say the situation has failed rather than only being difficult

Antonyms

success
∞ 1.0

Getting what you want after working hard

victory
∞ 1.0

A win against an opponent or a difficult problem

How Bad

fucked-up
  • Offensive
161 9.9
up the boohai
  • New Zealand
9.9

Surface Forms

up the boohai main

Morphology

up + the + boohai

This is an idiomatic, regional NZ expression where the overall meaning (‘gone wrong / failed completely’) cannot be derived from the literal parts 'up' + 'the' + 'boohai'—especially since 'boohai' is non-transparent or unknown. The pattern parallels idioms like 'up the creek' and requires lexicalized knowledge or cultural exposure rather than compositional inference, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituents would not reliably predict the idiomatic sense.

Etymology

The saying up the boohai may come from the image of something thrown into a deep, useless hole called a boohai. If something ends up in that hole it is lost or ruined, so the phrase now means 'gone wrong' or 'failed completely'.