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!

Original Technorati articles tagged “fail”

• in Gadgets
  RIM Slapped with Lawsuit After BlackBerry Service Outage
  RIM is in hot water again after a class-action lawsuit has been filed for the BlackBerry Service Outage.
  by jbinc / on Oct 27, 2011
• in Politics
  Wicked, Nassssty Liberalses! Golub Will Show YOU!
  I'm sure that in this great, big wonderful world there is a conservative who understands satire and knows how to be funny and get his point across at the same time. We just haven't found one yet.
  by parkypundit / on Oct 18, 2011
• in Gadgets
  RIM says 'Sorry' with $100 Worth of Free Apps - Here's What You'll Get
  BlackBerry outage causes RIM to give free apps to its customers as an appeal to stay with them.
  by jbinc / on Oct 17, 2011

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “fail”

 

• Found Gay Dog

  
  — Authority:
  [IMG: http://static2.thenewun.com/static/images/2012/05/found-gay-dog-25052012.jpg]
  13 hours ago

• Face detection Fail

  
  — Authority:
  [IMG: http://static3.thenewun.com/static/images/2012/05/face-detection-fail-25052012.jpg]
  13 hours ago

• There is a storm brewing, is it time to baton down the hatches?

  
  The Share Centre Blog — Authority: 121
  Actually I think the economic news of late has been quite stunning. Stunningly bad, that is. What is to be done? Well, they say sell in May, and go away, and here we are near the end of the month and there is no doubt about it, an awful lot of selling has been going on. The FTSE 100, Dow and DAX have all lost ...
  14 hours ago

• News That Matters

  
  — Authority:
  Ft.com Some of Europe’s biggest fund managers have confirmed they are dumping euro assets amid rising fears over a possible Greek exit from the eurozone and single currency turmoil. The euro’s sudden fall this month caught many investors by surprise. Europe’s single currency has lost 5 per cent in the ...
  14 hours ago

• News That Matters

  
  — Authority:
  Ft.com Some of Europe’s biggest fund managers have confirmed they are dumping euro assets amid rising fears over a possible Greek exit from the eurozone and single currency turmoil. The euro’s sudden fallthis month caught many investors by surprise. (Read more…) Europe’s single currency has lost 5 per cent in ...
  14 hours ago

• Why Businesses Fail – And What You Can Do About It!

  
  — Authority:
  Have we unintentionally set your commercial operation up for failure? No the single sets out to fail! Most commercial operation owners examination all the census data (maybe some-more than once) prior to they open their doors. Many know the reasons since businesses fail. But the small businesses work underneath this ...
  14 hours ago

• Signs your marketing/branding is in deep trouble

  
  — Authority:
  There is nothing that hurts marketers more than spending a lot of money with poor metrics to show for their efforts.  This comes at a time when most CEO’s don’t believe that marketers spend their money wisely and waste too much of their budgets on tactics that don’t provide ROI.  Here are some signs that your ...
  1 day ago

• Goggie GIF: Jail Break

  
  — Authority:
  Chek out moar kewl gifs ober at Animals Gifs! Tagged: chihuahua , dog , fail , gif , jailbreaking Submitted by: Unknown
  1 day ago

• Does a Bill that Calls for the Breakup of the Big Banks Actually Stand a Chance?

  
  — Authority:
  USDA/flickr source Earlier this month, Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat from Ohio, introduced a bill that calls for the breakup of the nation’s six largest banks. It’s called The Safe, Accountable, Fair & Excellent (SAFE) Banking Act of 2012. The bill was read and referred to the Committee on Banking, ...
  1 day ago

• Giving kitty a complex…

  
  — Authority:
  [via Failbook ] [IMG: http://cupofzup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/facebook-fat-cat.png]
  1 day ago

• Everybody Hates a Showoff on the Road – Safe Driving FAIL

  
  — Authority:
  You think that the guy driving the van hit his brakes quick? Likely. Source – failblog.org Related Posts: Why wait for a tow truck? FAIL Scarface would be proud of this prankster – Hairdryer FAIL, Prank WIN! Awesome Escalator FAIL
  1 day ago

• This isnt going to turn out very good..

  
  — Authority:
  Democrat-controlled Detroit is going to stop maintaining streetlights in "distressed neighborhoods", because it has no money: Detroit’s plan goes further: It would leave sparsely populated swaths unlit in a community of 713,000 that covers more area than Boston , Buffalo and San Francisco combined. Vacant ...
  1 day ago

• Twitter FAIL: Pay Your Bills, Diddy

  
  — Authority:
  Rap mogul Sean Combs must have been bored upon returning to the U.S. from Cannes, France yesterday. The 42-year-old music producer took to his Twitter page to show off his millionaire status to his working stiff followers. Mr. Combs, who blocked your auntie on Twitter, tweeted: I think while I’m in miami imma go to ...
  1 day ago

• Pobre chico se ha dejado la espalda

  
  — Authority:
  
  1 day ago

• FAIL Nation: Unsolvable Question FAIL

  
  — Authority:
  Submitted by: Unknown Via: Voldegort
  1 day ago

• No Wonder These Shoes Were Cheap (2 pics)

  
  Izismile.com - In fun we trust! Pictures, photos, videos, flash, games, celebs, hot stuff — Authority: 568
  This guy thought he had practically stolen these red Adidas sneakers for such a low price, until he wore them for the first time. See what happened to his prized high tops.  
  1 day ago

• Epic News Fail - Romanian TV Reporter Caught Faking Sand Storm

  
  Izismile.com - In fun we trust! Pictures, photos, videos, flash, games, celebs, hot stuff — Authority: 568
  As he missed the sandstorm he was supposed to report about, this TV reporter tried to fake it, but his cameraman kinda failed him. Lol  
  1 day ago

• High School Sign FAIL

  
  — Authority:
  Some cool sign fail images: I hope your students are not "comeing " home from this school.
  1 day ago

• Another Obama Record … Under Barack Obama, 30 Worst Months of Employment in the Past 25 Years

  
  Scared Monkeys — Authority: 605
  OBAMANOMICS: WOW, yet another record for President Barack Obama to be proud of … From The Weekly Standard comes Barack Obama’s dismal record on employment and job recover … Obama has 30 of the worst employment months in the past 25 years. Ever wonder why Obama wants to distract from his terrible record ...
  1 day ago

• News Makes Fake Sand Storm

  
  — Authority:
  
  1 day ago

Comments about fail