going south

Verb

go south (third-person singular simple present goes south, present participle going south, simple past went south, past participle gone south)

1. (idiomatic) To become unfavorable; to decrease; to take a turn for the worse.
   • I should have walked away from the casino when my luck went south, but I stayed and ended up in the hole.

   Synonyms:

   go downhill, go left, head south, move south, turn south, atrophy, break down, crack, decline, deteriorate

2. (intransitive) To make an escape; to disappear.
   • He won! A disbeliever, from childhood, in the frequency of miracles, he gathered up seven hundred and forty dollars and "went south" with it.1929, Peter B. Kyne, The Parson of Panamint and Other Stories, page 197
3. (slang) To give somebody oral sex.
4. (slang) To rathole: to take chips off the table in a cash game without exiting the game completely, especially with the intention of limiting losses.