英語博客-北美風(fēng)情 171、Going down in flames
Maura: So, this expression is also used to talk about something negative, so something ended in a negative way.
Harp: Yes. When something ends and it’s memorable and dramatic in a negative way.
Maura: Yeah. So it could be that something didn’t work or it failed. But any way you’re gonna use it, it has a negative ending in a memorable way.
Harp: And it could be used for anything. It could be sports, or work, or a project, or business. Really, to go down in flames could be used for so many different situations.
Maura: Right. Any situation where something can end and something dramatic can happen, really. Now, if you think of the image of an airplane, that’s connected to this expression. So you see an airplane flying and something’s not going well, the plane is going down, it’s falling to the ground, it’s going to crash. And the flames make the scene very dramatic and memorable, but it’s not a good thing, of course, that this plane is going to crash.
Harp: Yeah. A plane crash is negative so that’s why to go down in flames is used in negative situations.
