gone to pot
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Ruined, gone to the bad. The allusion is to the pot into which bits of already cooked meat are cast prior to their making their last appearance as hash.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “gone to pot” mean?
Ruined, gone to the bad. The allusion is to the pot into which bits of already cooked meat are cast prior to their making their last appearance as hash.
Is “gone to pot” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.