| Main Entry: | go south |
| Part of Speech: | v phr |
| Definition: | to fall or slide down; to decline; to fall in value |
| Example: | His golf game is going south. |
| Usage: | slang; goes south, going south, went south, gone south |
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| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
go South definitionand head South
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go south
Deteriorate or decline, as in The stock market is headed south again. This expression is generally thought to allude to compasses and two-dimensional maps where north is up and south is down. However, among some Native Americans, the term was a euphemism for dying, and possibly this sense led to the present usage. [Slang; first half of 1900s] Also see go west.