Down the pan

Phrases, sayings and idioms at

The Phrase Finder

Down the pan

Phrases Thesaurus

Meanings and origins of phrases and sayings

Browse phrases beginning with:

[A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U,V][W][X,Y,Z]

Down the pan

Meaning

Wasted and unrecoverable.

Origin

The pan is the lavatory pan. This phrase is of UK origin and is fairly recent. The first record of it in print is in the 1961 edition of Eric Partridge's Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English :

"Down the pan... A Cockney equivalent of down the drain, ruined with no chances left."

The US has an equivalent expression - 'down the tubes'.