gone case

gone case (plural gone cases)

1. (Singapore, India, idiomatic) Someone or something that is deemed irredeemable, hopeless and beyond help; a doomed person or thing.

   Synonym: lost cause

   • 1991 August 9, Valerie Tan, w:The Straits Times, quoted in Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English, Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings Limited, →OCLC, section 3, page 19:

     gone case – something that cannot be saved (eg. he’s a gone case).

   • 2006, DanielS, soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

     That ex-lecturer-to-be confirm gone case liao.

   • 2006, Kantian [pseudonym], soc.culture.singapore (Usenet):

     don't worry, it is already a gone case, and nothing u can do about it but just watch.