belly up to the buffet table and help yourselves
1880
In the finance world, a company goes belly up when it declares bankruptcy or goes out of business.
Let’s assume Company XYZ’s stock falls from $10 per share to 50 cents per share due to a series of internal scandals and product failures. The company files for bankruptcy a week later. In this situation, we would say that Company XYZ went belly up.
The financial world seems to have its own language sometimes. In this case, the slang term evolved from the fact that when creatures die, they tend to fall on their backs, with their bellies facing up.
What made you want to look up belly-up? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
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