"All downhill from here"

[jjones]

Usually, the expression "All downhill from here" means the going gets easier. The expression "It's all going downhill", or something to that effect, means things are getting worse.

 

[Goosemaster]

You just know the old man who said it first as he ran out of gas in his Model T 100 years ago on top of Blueberry Hill after day dreaming about being on top of Ms. Muffet earlier that day, is rolling around in his grave right now...

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: Excelsior

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
70% of ATOT doesn't understand this phrase?

Easier/better is correct

No, you don't understand that the context matters. For 70%, the first thing they thought of was worse.

If you look at it as just a sentence in the English language then yes it can go either way based on context. But as a "common saying" or "colloquialism" such as "the grass is alway greener" then it only has one meaning "things are getting better"

 

[ggnl]

The way I understand it is:

"It's all going downhill" = negative
"It's all downhill from here" = positive

 

[Captante]

Depending on the context of the sentence in which its used it could mean either one, but I believe more often it means things will only be getting worse from here on.

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: Excelsior

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
70% of ATOT doesn't understand this phrase?

Easier/better is correct

No, you don't understand that the context matters. For 70%, the first thing they thought of was worse.

I forgot that the majority of ATOT'ers have lived most of their lives under the Bush administration

 

[jonks]

It can mean both, it's entirely dependent on context. Like "bad" was in the 80s.

1. You shouldn't smoke, it's bad. (literally bad)
2. Yo man, you go to that Michael Jackson concert, shit was bad! (meaning good)

This confused the crap out of my parents in the 80s.

Mom: "Bad? Do you mean bad bad or good bad? Christ I hate kids. I need another Valium."

or this:

Originally posted by: ggnl
"It's all going downhill" = negative
"It's all downhill from here" = positive

 

[scott916]

I've always understood it to mean the same as 'it'll be easier from here on out'.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy

Originally posted by: Excelsior

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
70% of ATOT doesn't understand this phrase?

Easier/better is correct

No, you don't understand that the context matters. For 70%, the first thing they thought of was worse.

If you look at it as just a sentence in the English language then yes it can go either way based on context. But as a "common saying" or "colloquialism" such as "the grass is alway greener" then it only has one meaning "things are getting better"

No, that's just it about the English language. Sometimes it doesn't make sense. Colloquially, it can mean either.

 

[Jessica69]

As an old person here on AT, and I remember Kennedy being president, "It's all downhill from here" meant things were going to get easier......as in you've been climbing uphill up until that moment, now it's downhill. Surely you don't think going up a hill, working against a rising slope, is easier than going down with the slope?

Now, I suppose you could construe it any way you wanted to, but it certainly never meant that things were going to get harder...........

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
sh!t is going to get ugly

:laugh:

 

[CrimsonChaos]

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy

Originally posted by: Excelsior

Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
70% of ATOT doesn't understand this phrase?

Easier/better is correct

No, you don't understand that the context matters. For 70%, the first thing they thought of was worse.

I forgot that the majority of ATOT'ers have lived most of their lives under the Bush administration

:roll: Showed your true colors there...

At any rate, you're wrong. It depends on context.

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: Jessica69
As an old person here on AT, and I remember Kennedy being president, "It's all downhill from here" meant things were going to get easier......as in you've been climbing uphill up until that moment, now it's downhill. Surely you don't think going up a hill, working against a rising slope, is easier than going down with the slope?

Now, I suppose you could construe it any way you wanted to, but it certainly never meant that things were going to get harder...........

Which way does sht flow? Worse = answer.

 

[Cogman]

Context is everything. For example, if I have finished my last test in school I would say "Its all down hill from here". however, If I get in an arguement with a friend I could also say that "its all down hill from here" and it would mean something completely different. Context is everything for this saying.

 

[Anubis]

yes its all about context, i voted Worse because thats the context i hear it used most often in

 

[esun]

Here are some references:

1. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/f...=&spon=&pagewanted=all
2. http://www.wsba.org/media/publ...news/august+cumbow.htm

Summary of 1: In 1591, downhill was "bad". In 1719, it was "good".

Summary of 2: It used to mean (vague, I know) "good", but at some point it came to be used as "bad", probably due to misuse by someone famous.

In my own experience, I understand it as the author of 2 does. It appropriately means something is getting easier, but at some point was corrupted to mean the opposite as well.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: Jessica69
As an old person here on AT, and I remember Kennedy being president, "It's all downhill from here" meant things were going to get easier......as in you've been climbing uphill up until that moment, now it's downhill. Surely you don't think going up a hill, working against a rising slope, is easier than going down with the slope?

Now, I suppose you could construe it any way you wanted to, but it certainly never meant that things were going to get harder...........

Kennedy eh? Seems RFK knew 'downhill' meant getting worse

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/vietnam.htm

Kennedy:
We were winning the war in 1962 and 1963, up until May or so of 1963. The situation was getting progressively better. And then I . . .

Martin:
But then it got progre-- started going downhill, didn't it?

Kennedy:
Yes, and then we had all the problems with the Buddhists and the . . .

Martin:
Yeah.

Kennedy:
And, uh . . .

Martin:
Why did they go down, why did they get bad, Bob?

 

[Syringer]

Interesting discussion here.

 

[MotionMan]

Apparently both, but, until today, I have only thought of it as "getting worse".

MotionMan

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: Homerboy
"this thread is going downhill"

but explaining it has been an uphill battle, so once the context is decided its all downhill from there.

 

[Brainonska511]

Depends on the context. It could mean things are going to get easier or worse.

 

[Vehemence]

Fuck hills

 

[SpunkyJones]

context, context, context.

 

[MrDudeMan]

I've never heard this used in any context meaning "worse".

It can go either way. I'm not surprised that the OP and friend couldn't come to this conclusion on their own.

 

[Geocentricity]

No, its NOT CONTEXT!

It is two entirely different sayings:
1) The PHRASE: "... and its all downhill from here" = things will get easier, like biking DOWNHILL


2) The WORD "... went downhill ever since..." = things went to the crapper