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Go down the tubes

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To fail, collapse, or become ruined, often in a steady, irreversible process, as if going down a drain or tube into a state of nothingness.

Detailed Definition
Go down the tubes means to decline, fail, deteriorate, or be wasted beyond recovery. In poetry, the idiom can describe a relationship, career, town, dream, political ideal, or moral order sliding into ruin. The “tubes” suggest drains, pipes, machinery, and downward passage, making loss feel both physical and impersonal. It is useful in contemporary poems about urban decay, economic failure, addiction, or disillusionment. The phrase’s casual tone can sharpen bitterness by making catastrophe sound almost ordinary.
Example
Example in poetry:
A social poem may lament a neighbourhood going down the tubes after the mill closes; In satire, noble promises go down the tubes once money speaks; The phrase can show decline in informal language; A poet might use it to contrast civic ruin with official optimism.
Additional Notes
Go down the tubes means decline, fail, or be wasted, with images of disappearance through pipes or channels. In poetry, it can express social decay, wasted money, ruined hope, addiction, or cultural decline in a colloquial voice. The phrase overlaps with down the drain, but often suggests a broader process of deterioration. Students should note the downward movement and sense of helpless loss.
Also Known As
fail
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