to hell in a handbasket

English

Alternative forms

• to hell in a handcart

Etymology

Images in church iconography suggest similar phrases may date back to 1515. The first attestation is from 1682, the variation to hell in a handcart is attested since 1841, and a phrase similar to to heaven in a wheelbarrow is first attested in 1618. The popularity of the variation "to hell in a handbasket" may be connected to its alliteration.

Pronunciation

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Prepositional phrase

to hell in a handbasket

1. (idiomatic, informal) To go to a bad state of affairs quickly.

   I watched as the guy in charge did nothing and the whole place went to hell in a handbasket.

   • 1994, Stephen King, Insomnia:

     Ralph's close vision had deteriorated quite a bit since Carolyn’s death—gone to hell in a handbasket might actually have been a more accurate way of putting it—and he had to lean forward until his brow was pressed against the dirty show window of Secondhand Rose, Secondhand Clothes before he could decipher it: […]

   • 2010, Clay Shirky, Cognitive Surplus, page 121:

     Gen Xers were said to be lazy—“slackers” in the parlance of the time—who didn’t exhibit the straightforward work ethic of their predecessors. […] Commentators wrung their hands about the slackers in our midst, further evidence that society was going to hell in a handbasket.