FAIL

It's not just a verb anymore. Through the magic of the Internet, "fail" is now a noun. More than that, it's a state of being. It's the ultimate descriptor for someone screwing up big time, which raises the laughter level of onlookers.

Perhaps the greatest facilitator of this Internet meme is Failblog.org. Every day the website posts new hilarious pictures where the general theme is "someone REALLY screwed up here." A diver hitting one's head on the platform certainly falls under that umbrella.

Entities can generate fail, too. Perhaps they had to nearly halve an almost finished hotel because of building errors.

Fail is not to be confused with an "epic fail," which is loosely defined as "the dumbest thing anyone can do to someone not very well-liked" (at least until another human bumbles in life somehow).  A Slate writer explored the fail phenomenon when he heard an audience member held up a piece of paper that said "FAIL" during U.S. Senate hearings. This "FAIL sign" could be considered by the same Internet collective to be the antonym of an "epic fail," which would probably be "full of win."

by Matthew T. Sussman Are you a writer, passionate about this or any other topic? Join Blogcritics!

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “FAIL”

• Google Search Fail: Why Won’t My Parakeet Eat My Diarrhea

  
  The Inquisitr Entertainment — Authority: 760
  Head on over to Google right now and type in “Why Won’t” and you’ll quickly realize an odd top search suggestion of “why wont my parakeet eat my diarrhea” one of the most popular search options found on Google at the moment I’m writing this article. The fail comes from none other than the ultra popular ...
  3 hours ago

• website fail

  
  mondo a-go-go — Authority: 98
  My Flickr Pro account expires in four days. I have been making intermittent attempts to pay for the upgrade all bloody day and the payments section site is refusing to work for me, just as it was doing a few days ago. I have had this problem with upgrading my Flickr account every. single. year. without fail ...
  3 hours ago

• Windows Ultimate Extras Get A Life of Their Own

  
  Revelations From An Unwashed Brain — Authority: 573
  When Vista Ultimate Edition was announced, I’m sure that many people, not really needing some of the features of Ultimate, were enticed by the promise of these Extras, and put up the extra dollars to get the Ultimate Edition. Unfortunately, the Ultimate Edition proved to be ultimately a disappointment, on many ...
  3 hours ago

• Why Won’t My Parakeet Eat My Diarrhea? Fail

  
  Blippitt.com — Authority: 582
  This is one of the most epic Google Suggest fails Ive seen in a long time. How does Google Suggest work, and where do these "suggestions" come from? The short answer: The suggestions are taken from searches previous users all over the world have done on Google, as well as searches youve done, sites in Googles ...
  4 hours ago

• Stills from Hannah Montana’s “Come Fail Away” Episode

  
  Disney Society — Authority: 142
  Yesterday, I shared with you that Lucas Cruikshank would be guest starring on the Hannah Montana episode “Come Fail Away” on December 6th. I have a few stills from the episode and they involve Lucas, Miley wearing flippers and getting up close and personal with a white duck. In "Come Fail ...
  4 hours ago

• That’s what you get for being a show off

  
  Politics, Economics, Religion and People — Authority: 143
  Barrier Jump Fail Submitted using the FAIL Uploader This video is also viewable at: MySpaceTV | DailyMotion
  5 hours ago

• Obama’s Approval Ratings Drop

  
  Sandra Rose — Authority: 645
  Barack Obama’s approval ratings continue to slide as Americans worry more about the economy, unemployment and the Afghan/Iraq wars.A new AP-GfK poll shows that Americans are more pessimistic about the direction of the country than they were just a month ago, with President Obama’s approval ratings ...
  6 hours ago

• Parenting fail: Creative excuses for when the tooth fairy is a no-show

  
  Parents Talk Back — Authority: 121
  Yesterday, my daughter lost her first front tooth. She asked me if the tooth fairy would use a GPS or map to find our home. I told her that the tooth fairy was facing recessionary pressure and has lowered the…
  6 hours ago

• TheFailOfTheRainDance

  
  Pxleyes Photoshop Contest Watch — Authority: 461
  New image in the black marker photoshop contest Thats going to happen if you dance the rain dance wrong.. watch your clothes, mom doesnt like black spots on ur new white t-shirt. … TheFailOfTheRainDance photoshop picture Related posts: Peering through New image in the black marker photoshop contest ...
  6 hours ago

• Video: Fiat 500 Cayunga Drag Races Corvette

  
  CarEnvy.ca — Authority: 135
  The David vs. Goliath metaphor has rarely been more apt. Just watching the little Fiat warm up those race slicks, you know you’re in for a treat. The Fiat is certainly the lighter of the two, and with a “15 psi turbo”, the power-to-weight is certainly closer than appearances lead you to believe.So can ...
  8 hours ago

• Debt Relief – Advantages And Disadvantages Of Using Debt Relief…

  
  Fisher Funding — Authority: 156
  There are various ways to analyze anything. The best way is to highlight the advantages and disadvantages so that the right decision is taken. By analyzing the negative and positive factors, a customer is able to figure out whether a decision is beneficial for him or not. Continue reading here: Debt Relief – ...
  8 hours ago

• Green Party to Pick up Seanad Seat as Fianna Fail nominate Cllr James Carroll

  
  Irish Election — Authority: 499
  Fianna Fail will nominate Cllr James Carrol l – Louth County Councillor and parliamentary assisatnt to Margaret Conlon for one of the two Seanad seats to be filled at the forthcoming Seanad election. You might remember him from his scintillating blog posts during the local elections (he is also one of Suzy’s ...
  12 hours ago

• Budget Targets Slipping: Cause of Optimism

  
  Irish Election — Authority: 499
  The Government is said to be a little ‘optimistic’ about our prospects for next year. This is despite the slow slippage of budgetary targets in data released last week and to be followed up with the pre-budget outlook tomorrow. We know that the target revenue for this year is already €2.75bn behind the April ...
  13 hours ago

• The cones of shame!

  
  Politics, Economics, Religion and People — Authority: 143
  Eating Fail Picture by: dunno source Submitted by: dunno source via Fail Uploader Sponsored By: National Geographic Channel – Expedition Week Search for the Amazon Headshrinkers Sunday 9P e/p They say that shrinking heads is no longer practiced. We’re going to ...
  14 hours ago

• Tire Change Fail

  
  Blippitt.com — Authority: 582
  Theres a right way and a wrong way to change a tire. This would be the wrong way. Related Items: Oops! Oops! Post originally from: Blippitt Tire Change Fail Related Posts: Parkour Fail Compilation (VIDEO) Motorcyclist Loses Shoe (VIDEO) Epic Interview Fail (VIDEO) Halloween ...
  14 hours ago

• Drunk Almost Hit By Train

  
  Angry Clam — Authority: 142
  “One too many, lucky as truck ” lady falls down into an oncoming train in Boston. If this doesn’t teach her a lesson, nothing will.
  14 hours ago

• 自主制作アニメ – フミコの告白　Independent production anime

  
  Watch your favorite videos on the internet. — Authority: 171
  自主制作短編アニメーションです。なんだかすごく頭の悪い作品ですが･･･どうぞご覧下さい。 詳細 http://d.hatena.ne.jp/Tete/20091108 イメージボード･その他 http://f.hatena.ne.jp/Tete/14.%E3%83%95%E3%83%9F%E3%82%B3/ スクリーンショット ...
  16 hours ago

• Fox News Fail

  
  Watch your favorite videos on the internet. — Authority: 171
  For more, visit http://failblog.org/ Share your FAIL videos here: http://cheezburger.com/submitvideo.aspx?vs=7
  16 hours ago

• Complexity in mega IT projects

  
  Project Management Resources, Templates, Books, Tools, News :: PMToolbox — Authority: 148
  “Everyone thinks they are the big boss,” says Laura Aziz.  “Everyone thinks they are managing the others.”  It’s one of the complexities that Laura is managing as part of putting the IT systems into a massive 7-star hospital in the Middle East: complete with wifi, electronic mediccal records and video ...
  17 hours ago

• Panini Takes Bush League To An Unprecedented New Level

  
  Sports Cards Uncensored — Authority: 429
  When the signatures on your cards look like this , its probably best not to display them . It makes me wonder if these are actually just the good ones, complete with bubbly and streaky signatures across the board. Could there be worse ones out there? What the fuck are they thinking? Those horrible looking sigs sure ...
  18 hours ago

Comments about FAIL