To go due north, verb. phr. (obsolete).—To go bankrupt. [That is, to go to White-cross Street Prison, once situate in north London]. See Quisby.
To go on the dub, verb. phr. (old).—To go house-breaking; to pick locks. See Dub.
1690. B. E., Dict. of the Cant. Crew. Going upon the dub, c. Breaking a House with picklocks.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
To go to the dogs, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To go to ruin. [Cf., the Dutch proverb ‘Toe goê, toe de dogs’ = money gone, credit gone too.] See Demnition bow-wows.
1857. A. Trollope, Three Clerks, ch. i. The service, he said, would go to the dogs, and might do for anything he cared and he did not mind how soon. [[162]]
1863. H. Kingsley, Austin Elliot, 1, 179. ‘Got a second!—bah! The University is going to the ‘——’ Deuce!’ suggested Lord Charles, who was afraid of something worse. ‘Dogs, Sir, dogs!’
c. 1879. Broadside Ballad, ‘Old Clo’.’ My line of business is played out, it’s going to the dogs.
To go off on the ear, verb. phr. (American).—To get angry; to fly into a tantrum. See Nab the rust.