graveyard spiral
n.— «Smokey, a goofball, silly but friendly car-chase comedy, became a runaway hit and locked Reynolds into a series of road-race films that put his film career into a graveyard spiral.» —“Affable Reynolds stays afloat in a sea of miserable movies” by Patrick Taggart Austin American-Statesman (Texas) Feb. 12, 1989. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
On a busy day in the emergency room, Alisa of Dallas, Texas, told an efficient colleague that she was really humming, meaning it as a compliment. Her colleague took offense, maintaining that humming meant “smelly.” Since the 18th...
Aubrey in Waco, Texas, says her mother used to warn the kids against contracting honkus of the bonkus, a fanciful name for a contagious disease. This colloquial term probably comes from the words bonk and konk, meaning “to hit” or...