to go wrong
495
2.4
- phrasal verb
- /ɡoʊ rɔŋ/
:
salir mal
- If anything goes wrong, I'm holding you responsible.
- things go wrong
- if it goes wrong
- asked what went wrong
Just what the heck is going wrong with the NHS?
- Just what the heck is going wrong with the NHS?
- So, so far, everything that could go wrong is going wrong.
- You don't give up hope, Things go wrong, you keep going.
- So the, the thing that goes wrong is asymmetric actors.
- But it's going to go wrong very, very quickly.
- And it's, you can't go wrong being decent to other people.
- Where do you see most people going wrong on a spiritual journey?
- It's to focus less on what's going wrong and more on what's going right.
- They'll drag you down and when it goes wrong, tell you they told you so.
- So today we're going to explain what is going wrong with economics.
- What, what are the ways that things could go wrong between now and CJI?
- What are the different ways you think AGI might go wrong that concern you?
- And I think that's where we go wrong in our community.
- I thought things were going wrong and we needed to do better.
Examples
-
Where do you see most people going wrong on a spiritual journey?
-
And, like, if something goes wrong, then what do you do?
-
So, so far, everything that could go wrong is going wrong.
-
But it's going to go wrong very, very quickly.
-
I think where people go wrong is trying to look young.
-
So many things to go wrong and what can go right.
-
This is exactly where it all went wrong.
-
I think something's gone wrong around here.
-
Everything seemed to be going wrong, starting with Peter leaving for Saigon on Monday.
Fiction book (1990) -
If anything goes wrong, I'm holding you responsible.
Synonyms
898
1.0
Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do
21
5.3
To happen in a way that is not planned or expected
20
3.9
Choosing the wrong direction or decision causes trouble
3
7.9
To fail or go badly wrong, especially a plan
2
7.2
To fail to get the result you planned in an attempt or plan
1
7.9
To fail completely
Head toward failure with no chance of a good outcome
Antonyms
How Successful
846
2.0
520
1.2
824
2.6
495
2.4
898
1.0
579
3.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to not succeed or to develop in an undesirable way' is directly derivable from combining 'go' (indicating a change of state) with 'wrong' (incorrect, out of order). This change-of-state pattern (e.g. 'go bad', 'go wrong') is common in English and across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Go wrong gives a simple picture: imagine a plan or machine moving forward (go) but then taking a bad turn or breaking (wrong). So, when something goes wrong it means 'to fail' or 'to happen in a bad way'.