Тартарары

[slovami.livejournal.com]

I found an interesting informal expression in Russian while doing my homework. It's

катиться в тартарары

from this context:
"Вся финансовая система Америки... катится в тартарары и увлекает за собой благополучную Европу и динамичную Азию."
"The entire American financial system... is going to hell in a handbasket, and dragging stable Europe and dynamic Asia behind it."
(For non-native speakers: Everything is going to hell in a handbasket! is an English expression meaning that a situation is becoming very bad. It has a kind of humorous tone.)

However, the dictionary definition (which gives the verb not as катиться, but провалиться) doesn't match this exactly. It says that this phrase is used not to describe a bad situation, but in a situation where you want someone to (metaphorically) get as far away as possible. So maybe something like "hey, go to hell!" (Тартарары comes from Tartarus, the underworld in Greek mythology.)

Do any native speakers have comments? Is this expression at all common? Is my translation right? I'd also like to know where the stress is on тартарары. Thank you!

Comments

[slovami.livejournal.com]

Ooh, thanks, I didn't know about куда мы катимся and докатились!