go wrong

English[edit]

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

(intransitive, idiomatic) To fail or go amiss; to have a bad outcome.
Everything seems to be going wrong today.

If you want good weather, you can't go wrong with Spain.
- 2012, Amy Keating Rogers, The Last Roundup, spoken by Derpy Hooves:
  I just don't know what went wrong!
- 2023 April 19, Philip Haigh, “Gauging ways to ensure rail freight gains more paths”, in RAIL, number 981, page 45:
  Johnson explained that absolute gauging assumed that everything that could go wrong would go wrong at the same time, resulting in the train hitting the platform. In contrast, probabilistic gauging says that everything can go wrong, but not at the same time.
(intransitive, idiomatic) To malfunction.
The vending machine went wrong and dispensed five cans of drink at once.
(intransitive, idiomatic) To become wicked or depraved.
Synonyms: break bad, go bad, go to the bad, stray
- 1977, Electric Light Orchestra (lyrics and music), “Mr. Blue Sky”, in Out of the Blue:
  Mr. Blue Sky / Please tell us why / You had to hide away for so long (so long) / Where did we go wrong?

to fail

to malfunction

to become depraved