When someone says "things have gone south," it means the situation took a turn for the worse. However, there are a variety of different ways that people might express this sentiment. Some other synonyms for "go south" might include "go wrong," "take a turn for the worse," "deteriorate," "head downhill," "fall apart," "go awry," "turn sour," "degenerate," "go downhill," "fall through," "come apart at the seams," "dissolve," "crumble," "disintegrate," or "break down." Each of these phrases can capture a slightly different nuance of how things might go wrong, but they all suggest that the situation is not going as planned.