the wheels fell off

the wheels fell off

slang An unexpected problem arose, with (real or hyperbolically) disastrous effects. The job interview was going well, but the wheels fell off once I started rambling about my personal life. My plan was to have dinner ready by the time you got home, but the wheels fell off when the washer flooded.
See also: fell, off, wheel
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • the wheels came off
  • the wheels are turning
  • the wheels turn
  • the wheels are in motion
  • roll off
  • the wheels came off the bus
  • the wheels came off the wagon
  • the wheels fell off the bus
  • the wheels fell off the wagon
  • on wheels
References in periodicals archive
After a rain delay they began the chase in encouraging fashion, reaching 11 without loss, but the wheels fell off in spectacular fashion as they posted the lowest ever test total at Lord's, capitulating in 15.4 overs.
But the wheels fell off with a 4-0 loss away to Slovakia last November and there has been no response.
We were in fell off a few our line-outs a little so to work next Adam "We had highlighted the fact that their 9 and 10 were dangerous and I thought we had them under control in the first half but the wheels fell off a little bit and it's frustrating because it was more so a game we gave up rather than a game we lost."
Then disaster struck on the way home from the auction as two of the wheels fell off.
After that the wheels fell off. Well fancied for the King Edward VII at Royal Ascot he was beaten into fifth of seven and then he was bitterly disappointing in the Glasgow Stakes up at Hamilton.
THE wheels fell off for a love cheat car crash victim when 17 girlfriends visited him in hospital at the same time.
According to the report, Taylor was dropped on nought, a slip catch that should have been taken by Kirk Edwards off Tino Best, then received more lives on 122 and 125 as the wheels fell off for the tourists.
A NEW PS18million roller coaster at Alton Towers called The Smiler has reopened after the wheels fell off and smacked four people in the face.
The wheels fell off for him in the Ashes tour later that year as he was dropped mid-series after succumbing to short deliveries from England's seamers time and again.
Carl Llewellyn has always thought the world of his eight-year-old but the wheels fell off somewhat in the second half of last season.
But the wheels fell off and Kendrick broke three times for a 5-0 lead, which he converted to level.
But the wheels fell off last summer, when the company's 88-per-cent shareholder, Leo Schotte, a Toronto stainless steel tank manufacturer, failed to secure new investment to pay down the debt.
But once Shafayet was lbw to Tim Bresnan for 33 and then Love run out for 42 the wheels fell off as Yorkshire took control.
And then the wheels fell off. After months of publicly rowing with the Government over sending troops to Afghanistan, Mr Marsden unceremoniously dumped Labour and defected to the Lib Dems.
But the wheels fell off when I tried to reload the brass.