Why has nobody answered my previous question?

Question

Its been five minutes and still no answers ! Where did the phrase "its all gone to pot" originate from?

Answer 1

Here you go

: Around 1542, when the phrase first appeared, "to go to pot" was to be cut up like chunks of meat destined for the stew pot. Such a stew was usually the last stop for the remnants of a once substantial cut of meat or poultry, so "going to pot" made perfect sense as a metaphor for anything, from a national economy to a marriage, that had seen better days. Early uses of the metaphor were usually in the form "go to the pot."

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/5/messages/1224.html

Answer 2

I've found the exact same quote on a different website. You didn't look very hard for your answer, did you?

"Around 1542, when the phrase first appeared, "to go to pot" was to be cut up like chunks of meat destined for the stew pot. Such a stew was usually the last stop for the remnants of a once substantial cut of meat or poultry, so "going to pot" made perfect sense as a metaphor for anything, from a national economy to a marriage, that had seen better days. Early uses of the metaphor were usually in the form "go to the pot.""

Answer 3

Pot luck is usually said to the unexpected guest invited to stay and eat. Nothing special will be offered, he'll have to take pot luck. Whatever's available.
The origin of 'it's all gone to pot' needs a bit of research. Hang on. It's 16th Century and refers to cutting up meat to be put in the pot. Previous answer correct. Congrats!

Answer 4

In mediaeval times, when the game was caught, the carcass was routinely stripped, dressed and hung up to dry, or preserved.

One of the many unpleasant tasks required when stripping game, especially large carcasses such as pigs, deer and cattle, required the slitting of the animals' bellies and the extraction of their chitterlings - liver and lights, vital organs etc.

These were, of course, kept in a cauldron with the lid bolted down, boiled slowly with strong wine and herbs to mask the texture and taste - but this stuff was only eaten by the servants, especially those who screwed up at some point, failed in their assigned tasks that day. Lords and Masters, as you'd expect, always got the best bits of rump and rib, etc. /They/ never had to worry about feasting on offal, oh no.

Anyway, it was a custom that any beggar coming to the door, asking for a scrap of chitterlings, could get a bit of the offal, if they were lucky and it hadn't been put in thr cauldron yet. Otherwise, if they were too late and the offal was already stewing, it was too late and they'd have to go home hungry.

Hence, "it's all gone to pot".

Another name for these entrails was "numble", and to be forced to eat it (e.g. as punishment duty for failing to come back with sufficient wood for the kitchen fire from coppicing duty) was to be forced to eat "numble pie", which eventually became the modern "humble pie".

Answer 5

I think that's a shame. Everyone's questions should be answered else it makes you feel quite unloved and boring. Still I dont know the answer to your last question and I suspect that is why no one answered it. I think of vegetables. Maybe someone in days past was looking for a carrot to munch on and they were told, It's all gone to pot, meaning there's nothing left, it's in the soup!

Answer 6

It's from the 16th century the phrase comes from the cutting up of meat and throwing it in the pot - it's come to mean that everything is finished, ruined or not working.

Answer 7

Pol Pot in Cambodia

Answer 8

My granny told me it meant Bed Pot, or Chamber Pot, going to pot was one step shy of being tossed. Is like a good thing gone bad, has gone to pot.
That fella up there^^^^^^^^ looked up a good one! Thankya. I didnt know its Origins, just what my granny told me.

Answer 9

Try This

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/5/messages/1215.html

Answer 10

Meaning Pot -Luck,not used thrown in the pot.