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Going to hell in a handbasket

To be going to hell in a handbasket is to be rapidly deteriorating - on course for disaster.
Simply put, things get worse and worse and don't seem to get better.
The virus is killing millions of people and thousands of people got laid off. I hate to tell you this but things going to hell in a handbasket.
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Going to hell in a handbasket

Going to hell in a handbasket is defined as a situation, a place, or a person, or an object headed for disaster inescapably and/or precipitately. When used to describe an object or a house, it means that the object or house is becoming derelict, dangerous to live in, a hazard, and incredibly damaged, or already is.

Synonyms "going to hell in a handcart", "going to hell in a handbag", "go to hell in a bucket", "sending something to hell in a handbasket" and "something being like hell in a handbasket".
Example 1
Person 1: That hoarder house went to hell in a handbasket after that tree branch collapsed the roof.

Person 2: The owner still hasn't repaired the roof.

Example 2
To individuals observing the United States of America from outside of the United States of America during the last 5 years, it looks like the United States of America is going to hell in a handbasket.

Going to hell in a handbasket

In the 1890s in San Fransciso there was a popular hooker named Helena who was recognizable in that she always carried a small handbasket instead of a purse or handbag; hence she acquired the nickname "Helena Handbasket". Sailors arriving in the port would often say things like "I'm gonna look up Helena Handbasket tonight" or in announcing their intention of what to do after a night at the bar, "Now I'm going to Helena Handbasket", which by association with the sinful nature of the activity involved, became the mondigreen, "going to hell in a handbasket".
Hey dude, if you don't stop chasing so much pussy you're going to hell in a handbasket.

you're going to hell in a hand basket 

Not merely "going to hell", but going to hell easily and rapidly; beyond hope.
Now you've REALLY gone and done it; you're going to hell in a hand basket.

you're going to hell in a hand basket 

that what you are doing is so bad that, you are going down by the law or with someone that you've hurt and;or you have sinned alot. the devil is carring the basket personally
you cheated on her and when she finds out; you're going to hell in a hand basket
The word 'flag' as pronounced by people with thick Belfast accents. The term is a perfect encapsulation of the disproportionate and overblown reaction to the removal of the Union Jack (as in 'de fleg') from above City Hall in Belfast. Where previously it had flown for 365 days per year, it is now flown on 17 designated days of the year - in line with many other British cities.

The event caused a portion of the Protestant community ('fleggers') to make international pricks of themselves as they proceeded to wreck the fucking place, claiming it was another erosion of a 'British' identity they perceive to have been under attack since the horrifying spectre of equality reared its head in Northern Ireland.

The word 'fleg' - and indeed 'fleggers' - fittingly describes a section of humanity unconcerned with knowledge, reality or the vagaries of the English language. Like America's tea-baggers they are ruled by instinct, fear and paranoia with a side dish of rampant bigotry and startling ignorance of the world around them.
"Wat de fuck like! The taigs got de fleg took down! Let's wreck de fuckin place! No surrender!"

"De fleg has been took down! Before ye know it there'll be a united Ireland! Attack Short Strand! God Save The Queen!"
Fleg by OnionFleg August 9, 2013
Word of the Day on July 18, 2026
To take something small, that doesn't quite qualify as a theft. Probably from the Danish "skæv" or the Dutch "scheef", both of which are pronounced similarly, meaning "askew, or not quite right'. To change an item's ownership without permission, but only something small and of little worth.
"I skeefed an apple off the neighbor's tree." "I skeefed some chips outta your bag when you looked away." "Don't skeef my chair when I go to the bathroom."
Skeef by kachinaflonk July 16, 2026
Word of the Day on July 17, 2026