All my hard work went up in smoke.
go up in smoke
idiomTo be completely ruined, devastated, or reduced to nothingness.
When the company lost its main investor, the plans for the new office went up in smoke.
After years of meticulous preparation, the entrepreneur watched his dreams go up in smoke when the market crashed unexpectedly.
- 01
all dressed up and nowhere to go
Elaborately attired or otherwise fully prepared for an anticipated situation or activity which, nevertheless, fails to occur.
- 02
all systems go
Everything is ready.
- 03
as you go
While one is doing (something); as one progresses.
- 04
boldly go where no man has gone before
To break new ground.
- 05
come and go
To repeatedly appear and disappear; to be transient.
- 06
don't go there
Do not broach that topic.
- 07
easy come, easy go
Easily won and easily lost (usually said when resigned to a loss; something that comes in the same way, goes in the same way)
- 08
end in smoke
To be destroyed or ruined; to go up in smoke.