"to hell in a handbasket" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "to hell in a handcart"
      },
      "expansion": "to hell in a handcart",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "to heaven in a wheelbarrow"
      },
      "expansion": "to heaven in a wheelbarrow",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "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.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "to hell in a handbasket",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "to hell in a handbasket",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "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": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "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": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "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"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "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",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "to hell in a handbasket"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "to hell in a handcart"
      },
      "expansion": "to hell in a handcart",
      "name": "m"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "to heaven in a wheelbarrow"
      },
      "expansion": "to heaven in a wheelbarrow",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "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.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "to hell in a handbasket",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "to hell in a handbasket",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
        "English idioms",
        "English informal terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English prepositional phrases",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "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": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "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": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "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",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "to hell in a handcart"
    }
  ],
  "word": "to hell in a handbasket"
}