fiasco
pronunciation
How to pronounce fiasco in British English:
UK [fiˈæskəʊ]
How to pronounce fiasco in American English:
US [fiˈæskoʊ]
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- Noun:
- a sudden and violent collapse
Word Origin
- fiasco
- fiasco: [19] In Italian, a fiasco is literally a ‘bottle’ (the word comes from medieval Latin fiasco, source of English flagon and flask). Its figurative use apparently stems from the phrase far fiasco, literally ‘make a bottle’, used traditionally in Italian theatrical slang for ‘suffer a complete breakdown in performance’. The usual range of fanciful theories has been advanced for the origin of the usage, but none is particularly convincing.=> flagon, flask
- fiasco (n.)
- 1855, theater slang for "a failure in performance;" by 1862 it had acquired the general sense of "any ignominious failure or dismal flop," on or off the stage. It comes via the French phrase fiare fiasco "turn out a failure" (19c.), from Italian far fiasco "suffer a complete breakdown in performance," literally "make a bottle," from fiasco "bottle," from Late Latin flasco "bottle" (see flask). The literal sense of the image (if it is one) is obscure today, but "the usual range of fanciful theories has been advanced" [Ayto]. Century Dictionary says "perhaps in allusion to the bursting of a bottle," Weekley pronounces it impenetrable and compares French ramasser un pelle "to come a cropper (in bicycling), literally to pick up a shovel." OED keeps its distance and lets nameless "Italian etymologists" make nebulous reference to "alleged incidents in Italian theatrical history." Klein suggests Venetian glass-crafters tossing aside imperfect pieces to be made later into common flasks. But according to an Italian dictionary, fare il fiasco used to mean "to play a game so that the one that loses will pay the fiasco," in other words, he will buy the next bottle (of wine). If the dates are not objectionable, that plausibly connects the literal sense of the word with the notion of "a costly mistake."
Example
- 1. The georgian fiasco may be one such event .
- 2. If the fiasco of structured finance has taught us one thing , it is that risk is not adequately captured by one simple measure .
- 3. Who benefited from that fiasco ?
- 4. The fiasco raises important questions about how to regulate financial markets .
- 5. The fiasco could also lead other companies to question past franchise awards .