See to hell in a handbasket on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "Images in church iconography suggest similar phrases may date back to 1515. The first attestation is from 1682, the variation to hell in a handcart is attested since 1841, and a phrase similar to to heaven in a wheelbarrow is first attested in 1618. The popularity of the variation \"to hell in a handbasket\" may be connected to its alliteration.",
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"head": ""
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"expansion": "to hell in a handbasket",
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"examples": [
{
"text": "I watched as the guy in charge did nothing and the whole place went to hell in a handbasket.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1994, Stephen King, Insomnia:",
"text": "Ralph's close vision had deteriorated quite a bit since Carolyn’s death—gone to hell in a handbasket might actually have been a more accurate way of putting it—and he had to lean forward until his brow was pressed against the dirty show window of Secondhand Rose, Secondhand Clothes before he could decipher it: […]",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2010, Clay Shirky, Cognitive Surplus, page 121:",
"text": "Gen Xers were said to be lazy—“slackers” in the parlance of the time—who didn’t exhibit the straightforward work ethic of their predecessors. […] Commentators wrung their hands about the slackers in our midst, further evidence that society was going to hell in a handbasket.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To go to a bad state of affairs quickly."
],
"id": "en-to_hell_in_a_handbasket-en-prep_phrase-IMzVHfUA",
"links": [
[
"state of affairs",
"state of affairs"
],
[
"quickly",
"quickly"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, informal) To go to a bad state of affairs quickly."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "to hell in a handcart"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"informal"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "menossa päin helvettiä"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "partir en vrille"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "partir en sucette"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"tags": [
"vulgar"
],
"word": "partir en couille"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "partir en cacahuète"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "se casser la gueule"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "tomber à l’eau"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"note": "no equivalent term in Polish",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "but see schodzić na psy"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "zejść na psy"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "naiba de tot"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "naibii de tot"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "dracu' de tot"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "dracului de tot"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-to hell in a handbasket.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7c/En-au-to_hell_in_a_handbasket.ogg/En-au-to_hell_in_a_handbasket.ogg.mp3",
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"word": "to hell in a handbasket"
}
{
"etymology_text": "Images in church iconography suggest similar phrases may date back to 1515. The first attestation is from 1682, the variation to hell in a handcart is attested since 1841, and a phrase similar to to heaven in a wheelbarrow is first attested in 1618. The popularity of the variation \"to hell in a handbasket\" may be connected to its alliteration.",
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"expansion": "to hell in a handbasket",
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"examples": [
{
"text": "I watched as the guy in charge did nothing and the whole place went to hell in a handbasket.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "1994, Stephen King, Insomnia:",
"text": "Ralph's close vision had deteriorated quite a bit since Carolyn’s death—gone to hell in a handbasket might actually have been a more accurate way of putting it—and he had to lean forward until his brow was pressed against the dirty show window of Secondhand Rose, Secondhand Clothes before he could decipher it: […]",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2010, Clay Shirky, Cognitive Surplus, page 121:",
"text": "Gen Xers were said to be lazy—“slackers” in the parlance of the time—who didn’t exhibit the straightforward work ethic of their predecessors. […] Commentators wrung their hands about the slackers in our midst, further evidence that society was going to hell in a handbasket.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To go to a bad state of affairs quickly."
],
"links": [
[
"state of affairs",
"state of affairs"
],
[
"quickly",
"quickly"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, informal) To go to a bad state of affairs quickly."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"informal"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-to hell in a handbasket.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7c/En-au-to_hell_in_a_handbasket.ogg/En-au-to_hell_in_a_handbasket.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/En-au-to_hell_in_a_handbasket.ogg"
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"synonyms": [
{
"word": "to hell in a handcart"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "menossa päin helvettiä"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "partir en vrille"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "partir en sucette"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"tags": [
"vulgar"
],
"word": "partir en couille"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "partir en cacahuète"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "se casser la gueule"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "tomber à l’eau"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"note": "no equivalent term in Polish",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "but see schodzić na psy"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "zejść na psy"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "naiba de tot"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "naibii de tot"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "dracu' de tot"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "To go to a bad state of affairs, to become ruined",
"word": "dracului de tot"
}
],
"word": "to hell in a handbasket"
}
Download raw JSONL data for to hell in a handbasket meaning in All languages combined (4.4kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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