worst comes to worst

Alternative forms

 * (especially UK English),, , , considered incorrect by some:

Etymology
Originally in the form "if the worst come to the worst" with the subjunctive "if it come to" in the sense of "if the worst possible outcome should become the worst possible reality". Often used even today with the same two definite articles, and this is the only form recorded for British English in some dictionaries.

Adverb

 * 1)  If a possible worst-case scenario actually occurs.

Usage notes
The expression is sometimes used in the simple past or past perfect or the conditional or past conditional and is often preceded by one of these or another term: if, when, had, let, lest, etc.

Translations

 * Bashkir: һис юғында
 * Belarusian: на благі канец
 * Catalan: en el pitjor dels casos, si passa el pitjor
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Dutch: in het ergste geval
 * Esperanto: en la plej malbona okazo
 * Estonian: kõige hullemal juhul
 * Finnish: pahimmassa tapauksessa
 * French: si le pire devait arriver, dans le pire des cas
 * German: ; wenn es zum Schlimmsten kommt; wenn es zum Äußersten kommt;
 * Greek: σε ἐσχατη ἀνάγκη
 * Hungarian: a legrosszabb esetben, ha minden kötél szakad
 * Ingush: ца хулча даьлча
 * Italian: nel peggiore dei casi, alle brutte,
 * Japanese: 最悪の場合
 * Latvian: ļaunākajā gadījumā
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: i verste fall
 * Nynorsk: i verste fall
 * Polish: ,
 * Portuguese: na pior das hipóteses
 * Romansch: en il mender cas, a la pira
 * Russian:, в ху́дшем слу́чае
 * Slovak: v najhoršom prípade
 * Spanish: en el peor de los casos
 * Swedish: i värsta fall
 * Tatar: һич югында
 * Turkish: en kötü ihtimalle; daha kötüsü olursa, çok gerekli olursa
 * Ukrainian: в кра́йньому разі, на худи́й кіне́ць, в найгі́ршому випа́дку