ain't what it used to was
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Something has changed for the worse
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
điều gì đó đã thay đổi theo chiều hướng tồi tệ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: is not what it used to be
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “ain't what it used to was” mean?
Something has changed for the worse Literally: is not what it used to be
Is “ain't what it used to was” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.