Irse al garete
backTo go to the garete.
to fall apart; **to fall apart**; **to go to pieces**; **to go wrong**; **to go down the drain**; **to go to hell**; **to fall through**; **to go off the rails**
Irse al garete means to go wrong, to fall apart, to be ruined, or to end in disaster.
El proyecto se fue al garete por falta de financiación.
The project fell apart because of a lack of funding.
Si seguimos así, todo se va a ir al garete.
If we carry on like this, everything is going to fall apart.
Después de aquella discusión, su relación se fue al garete.
Their relationship fell apart after that argument.
Todos nuestros planes se fueron al garete.
All our plans went down the drain.
La economía se está yendo al garete.
The economy is going to hell.
It is used when a plan, project, relationship, situation or undertaking fails completely or deteriorates badly.
A common construction is:
Todo se fue al garete.
→ Everything fell apart.
- a plan fails
- a project collapses
- something is ruined
- a relationship breaks down
- an undertaking goes badly wrong
- a situation gets completely out of control
The expression has a nautical origin.
Garete is related to the maritime expression ir al garete, traditionally used of a vessel that was adrift or driven by the wind and currents without proper control or direction.
A ship that went al garete was therefore no longer under effective control and could be carried away by the sea.
The metaphor was extended to other situations: if a plan or project se va al garete, it has effectively lost its direction and control and is heading towards failure.
The expression can describe either a sudden collapse or a gradual deterioration.
Sudden failure
El acuerdo se fue al garete después de la discusión.
→ The agreement fell apart after the argument.
Gradual deterioration
Si no hacemos nada, la empresa se irá al garete.
→ If we do nothing, the company will go under.
It can also be used humorously or dramatically:
Se me fue el fin de semana al garete.
→ My whole weekend went to pot.
Irse al garete, irse a pique and irse por la borda all preserve traces of Spanish's strong maritime vocabulary.
- Irse al garete → lose control and fail.
- Irse a pique → sink or collapse.
- Irse por la borda → be lost or wasted, literally "go overboard".
Their nautical origins have largely disappeared from everyday awareness, but the original imagery remains behind the modern figurative meanings.
Do not translate:
El plan se fue al garete.
as:
The plan went to the garete.
Natural translations include:
The plan fell apart.
The plan went wrong.
The plan went down the drain.
The plan went off the rails.
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