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south
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.
down South
to or at the southeastern United States. I used to live down South. We are going down South for the winter.
go south
and head South 1. Sl. to make an escape; to disappear. (Not necessarily in a southerly direction.) Lefty went South the minute he got out of the pen. The mugger headed South just after the crime.
2. Sl. to fall; to go down. (Securities markets.) All the stock market indexes went South today. The market headed South today at the opening bell
3. Sl. to quit; to drop out of sight. Fred got discouraged and went South. I think he gave up football permanently. After pulling the bank job, Wilbur went South for a few months.
mouth full of South
Sl. a southern accent. You sure do have a mouth full of South. I just love to hear a man with a mouth full of South.
go south
1. to lose value or quality She decided to sell her stocks at the end of the year because she felt the market was going south.
2. to stop working Ralph was on a business trip to New York when his laptop computer went south.
go south
(American informal) to lose value or quality When oil prices went south, it caused problems right across the economy. She played well in the tennis championships, except her serve seemed to have gone south.
go south
Deteriorate or decline, as in
The stock market is headed south again. This expression is generally thought to allude to compasses and two-dimensional maps where north is up and south is down. However, among some Native Americans, the term was a euphemism for dying, and possibly this sense led to the present usage. [
Slang; first half of 1900s] Also see
go west.
go South
and head South1. in. to fall; to go down. (Securities markets. This is a way of saying down. South is usually “down” on a map.) The market headed South today at the opening bell.
2. in. to quit; to drop out of sight. After pulling the bank job, Shorty went South for a few months.
3. in. to make an escape; to disappear. The mugger went South just after the crime.
head South
verba mouth full of South
n. a southern accent. I just love to hear a man with a mouth full of South.