go to the bow-wows
English
[edit]Verb
[edit]go to the bow-wows (third-person singular simple present goes to the bow-wows, present participle going to the bow-wows, simple past went to the bow-wows, past participle gone to the bow-wows)
- (dated, idiomatic, informal) To go to the dogs, to decline or deteriorate.
- 1896, Arthur G. Burgoyne, “Timon of Athens” in Shakespeare Up to Date, and Other Latter-Day Lyrics, Pittsburg: T. W. Nevin, p. 16,[1]
- With lavish hand his cash he spent,
- And with lightning speed to the bow-wows went
- And into the gutter fell.
- 1912, James Oneal, Militant Socialism, Saint Louis: The National RipSaw Publishing Co., p. 28,[2]
- The robber barons of the Middle Ages were perfectly sure that civilization would go to the bow-wows if they were interfered with.
- 1928, Dorothy L. Sayers, “The Piscatorial Farce of the Stolen Stomach”, in A Treasury of Sayers Stories[3], London: Victor Gollancz, published 1961, page 288:
- His father died a couple of years ago—he was a Writer to the Signet in Edinburgh—and I fancy Robert has rather gone to the bow-wows since then. Got among a cheerful crowd down there, don't you know, and wasted his substance somewhat.
- 1896, Arthur G. Burgoyne, “Timon of Athens” in Shakespeare Up to Date, and Other Latter-Day Lyrics, Pittsburg: T. W. Nevin, p. 16,[1]
Usage notes
[edit]Current from the mid-19th to the early 20th century. Frequent variants are go to the damnation bow-wows and the euphemistic go to the demnition bow-wows.