gone, lost, ruined. A spout was a
lift (elevator) formerly in
use in
pawnbroker's shops, up which the pawned articles were taken for storage and, when redeemed,
returned down, i.e., from the storeroom to the
shop. Well, the
assessment is up the spout, so you decide that there is something
wrong with the
case or something has gone
wrong and you hastily
repair a bunch of things that
don't need repairing.
-Auditing and Assessment (3 Mar. 64) 1. a British
term used figuratively to mean in a terrible and hopeless
condition;
awry; ruined or lost. The
word spout is another
term for a
pawnbroker's
shop (a
place where people who are desperate for
cash,
trade in belongings). Spout originally meant an elevator within such a
shop used to take
items up to a storage
area after they were pawned. Thus,
items literally went up the spout. 2. a variation of the
phrase up the
wall meaning into a frantic, irritated or frustrated
state; crazy,
distraught,
mad, etc.
gone, lost, ruined. A spout was a
lift (elevator) formerly in
use in
pawnbroker's shops, up which the articles pawned were taken for storage. Referring to the spout up which brokers
sent the articles and when redeemed they
returned them down the spout, i.e., from the storeroom to the
shop.
gone, lost, ruined. A spout was a
lift (elevator) formerly in
use in
pawnbroker's shops, up which the articles pawned were taken for storage and, when redeemed,
returned down, i.e., from the storeroom to the
shop.
gone, lost, ruined. A spout was a
lift (elevator) formerly in
use in
pawnbroker's shops, up which the articles pawned were taken for storage.
(slang) to the
point where
gains are wasted or lost.