Tā bǎ jīxù dōu tóujìn le nà jiā gōngsī, jiéguǒ quán dǎ shuǐpiāo le.
He put all his savings into that company, and it all went down the drain.
Tips
usage
The figurative sense comes from the stone itself: it skips a few times and then sinks without a trace. The money or effort is the subject: 钱打水漂了 "the money is gone".
mistakes
漂 here is piāo "to float", not piào as in 漂亮 or piǎo "to bleach".
