go tits up

1. rude slang To break or malfunction; to die, fall apart, or cease to work. (A play on the phrase "go belly up." "Tits up" is sometimes hyphenated.) Sorry, Mark, I'd love to give you a lift to the airport but my car's gone tits up on me again. It looks like our co-op might be going tits-up if we aren't granted a license for our communal work premises.

2. rude slang By extension, to have a poor, undesired, or ruinous outcome; to fail completely or not come together at all. We were all set to have our picnic on Saturday, but the weather went tits up and we had to cancel at the last minute. The merger deal between the two companies went tits-up when it came to light that one of the CEOs had been dodging tax obligations for several years.

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.