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head south

1. To escape; to vanish or disappear. (Not necessarily in a southerly direction.) Everyone in the gang headed south when they learned that the police had discovered their hideout.

2. To fall or drop; to depreciate; to lose quality or value. (Especially related to finances or stock exchanges.) The company's stock profile continued heading south for the third day in a row today. I used to be a big player in the stock market, but all my investments have headed south lately.

3. To cease working or functioning; to quit, fail, or fall apart. Talks between the labor union and the construction firm headed south yesterday, so it looks like workers will be on strike again soon. My computer is only a month old, and it's already heading south.

See also: head, south

head for a fall

To take actions that will likely result in a problem or conflict, typically due to one's past behavior. With the way he keeps skipping school, he is definitely headed for a fall. Oh, Jennifer is heading for a fall—you can't start rumors about half the school without repercussions.

See also: fall, head

be heading/riding for a fall

  also be headed for a fall

to be behaving in a way that is likely to cause problems for you Greg's riding for a fall - he gets to work late and spends hours talking to his friends on the phone.

See also: fall, heading

head South

verb

See go South

See also: head, south

turtle heading

n. popping up and down in an office cubicle, looking at what’s going on in the rest of the office. (see also prairie dog.) Everybody was turtle heading, trying to see what was happening in Willy’s cubicle.

See also: heading, turtle