📖 When Things Go to Pot
Definition: To become old and decrepit. Plants that are left to set seed after flowering either become bitter to the taste (like lettuce) or will not bloom as well the following year (as is the case with daffodils and tulips).
🌿 Cliché Spotlight: Running to Seed
🌼 Example in Gardening: Lettuce allowed to set seed becomes tough and bitter, while daffodils and tulips may not bloom as beautifully in subsequent years if they go to seed.
📜 Historical Usage: Henry Fielding figuratively used the term in his 1740 essay: “For Virtue itself by growing too exuberant and . . . by running to seed changes its very nature.” 🌻
🌟 Related and Similar Terms
- Over the Hill: Past one’s prime; getting old.
- Long in the Tooth: Advanced in age; getting old (originally referring to horses whose gums recede as they age, making their teeth appear longer).
- Past One’s Sell-By Date: No longer fresh or usable; old.
🔄 Synonyms
- Declining: Going downhill, aging.
- Withering: Shriveling, drying up, losing vitality.
😮 Antonyms
- Blooming: Full of health, life, and vigor.
- Flourishing: Thriving, growing well.
📚 Recommended Literature, Songs, and Movies
- Literature: “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett 🌿 – A story of rejuvenation and rebirth, both literal and figurative.
- Songs: “Forever Young” by Bob Dylan 🎶 – A song about wishing to retain youth and purity.
- Movies: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” 🎥 – A film that explores aging in reverse, full of intriguing paradoxes and life lessons.
🤓 Humor-Filled Quotes
- “Age is just a number. Wrinkles are where smiles have been.” – Mark Twain
- “You’re only as young as your knees." – Famous Garden Gnome 😆
🌍 Proverbs
- “An old broom knows the dirty corners best.” – Irish Proverb
- “Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.” – Maurice Chevalier
🧠 Quizzes
In the end, “running to seed” is a natural part of life—both in the garden and in human existence. Embrace the seasons and remember, if something’s gone a little to seed, there’s always hope for a fresh start with a little bit of TLC.
Yours in wisdom and wit,
Eldora Bloom 🌼
