Circling the Drain or Going Down the Toilet

English idioms are not always self-evident.

Moonstruck - What the hell happened to you?

The idiom was used in Moonstruck. It is going down the toilet. When something goes down the toilet, it sounds a lot worse than circling the drain. Circling the drain could be the residual dishwater from cleaning your dishes, utensils, pots, and/or pans with your favorite dishwashing liquid. The water circles clockwise in a nice, neat motion and sometimes even slurps along the way. The sink is than scrubbed with scouring powder and a sponge or wiped with a Mr Clean magic sponge and it shines once again like the top of the Chrysler Building.

Going down the toilet is quite another matter. Toilet ingredients are a combination of #1, #2, and TP. In rare occasions, it might also include emesis... or blood. And we all know what happens when the content doesn't go down upon first flush. (My home is over 100 years old). Sometimes these things can't be controlled. Do you, for example, use the toilet in sessions? Make a little BM, flush, return to the process of elimination? I don't think so. Even dogs do it at one time (unlike their practice of micturition).

Sometimes I am so thankful that I speak English as a first language. I would hate to have to learn this cr*p without years of context.