Gone south?_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Gone south?

"That he may be ready?" I suggested.

"Exactly," returned Mrs. Micawber. "That he may be ready - in case of anything turning up."

If anything GOOD turns UP, that is, the Micawbers' fortunes will turn for the better. Well, worse situations might also "turn up" (happen), but for the sake of our present argument, just remember that up stands for optimism. When something goes south, on the other hand, the situation deteriorates.

There's no such saying as "going north", by the way, for things looking up, just "going south" for situations getting worse – count it as just another oddity of the English language.

Here are media examples of things heading south, each followed by an explanation.

1. A headline: Mexicans who went north see jobs go south (International Herald Tribune, October 14, 2004).

Explanation: "Jobs go south" – no jobs. A play of words here. Mexicans who went north to the United States and Canada could not find jobs there because they saw jobs "go south". Literally so, too. Thanks or no thanks to NAFTA, the free trade agreement between Canada, United States and Mexico, Canadian and US jobs had gone to Mexico, down in the south.

2. It was the close of a balmy day in the French capital. You had to remind yourself that this was autumn and the swallows had already gone south. It was somewhat less of a surprise that Ireland's World Cup chances had gone south with them. Three weeks of deepening crisis had prepared us for the worst. In winning by a 30-15 scoreline that didn't flatter them, the Argentinians just put us out of our misery.