gå åt skogen

Swedish

Etymology

gå (“go”) +‎ åt (“to(wards)”) +‎ skogen (“the forest”)

Verb

gå åt skogen (present går åt skogen, preterite gick åt skogen, supine gått åt skogen, imperative gå åt skogen)

(idiomatic) to fail miserably, to go to pot
Synonyms: gå åt pepparn, (stronger) gå åt helvete

Jag skulle bygga ihop mina IKEA-möbler själv, men det gick åt skogen.
I was going to assemble my IKEA furniture by myself, but that went to pot.

Usage notes

The preposition åt might reflect older/dialectal usage and mean "to." The usual meaning is "towards."

See also

dra åt skogen

References

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