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”

• Obama Makes Every Excuse In The Book Defending Terrorist Act of Nidal Malik Hasan

  
  David Drake — Authority: 426
  Dear Leader His Excellency The Community Organizer In Chief Barack Hussein Obama, Junior is unwilling to make any conclusion about, or offer any on the Fort Hood shootings attributed to Muslim Nidal Malik Hasan . RCP : "Well, look, we -- we have seen, in the past, rampages of this sort. And in a country of ...
  2 hours ago

• Quote of the Day: Enemies foreign and domestic…

  
  DPGI - the aftermath — Authority: 438
  The enemy is anybody who’s going to get you killed, no matter which side he’s on. – Joseph Hellervia DPGI – the aftermath.
  6 hours ago

• UNBELIEVABLE: Obama Makes Excuses for Fort Hood Shooter!

  
  Sandra Rose — Authority: 643
  In a sit-down interview with Jake Tapper of ABC News last night, Barack Obama actually makes excuses for the terrorist who shot and killed 12 of his fellow soldiers! Obama seems to be blaming the military for this guy’s actions.Tapper asked Obama asking what separated the Fort Hood shooting from acts of terrorism. ...
  6 hours ago

• Hot Chicks Love… Fat Things?

  
  Banned In Hollywood - Humor, Funny Pics, Top 10's, Hot Girls, Gear, Stuff For Guys — Authority: 527
  Image via Unstructed Joanna Krupa so hot in so many ways – Caveman Circus Awesome 24 Hour Fitness Deal At Costco – Free Tofu Halloween Costume Contest Finale 2009 – College Humor The Saturday’s Frankie Sandford See Through – Taxi Driver Bar Refaeli will make you fall in love with her – Use ...
  6 hours ago

• Glenn Beck Loses Domain Name Dispute

  
  The Political Carnival — Authority: 671
  By GottaLaff Report the following images as offensive. Confirm Cancel Thank you for the feedback. Lo. Ser: [...] Beck had filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization over a satire Web site with the provocative domain name ...
  7 hours ago

• Obama: Too Busy for Berlin

  
  DPGI - the aftermath — Authority: 438
  The sound and video you are about to encounter comes from the heights of Mount Olympus courtesy of Dear Leader. Listen, accept, obey and feel the HOPE®….Figures… Obama Skips Anniversary of Fall of Berlin Wall, Sends a Video & Talks About Himself:One international leader was conspicuously absent at the 20 Year ...
  8 hours ago

• Vin Diagram

  
  Banned In Hollywood - Humor, Funny Pics, Top 10's, Hot Girls, Gear, Stuff For Guys — Authority: 527
  BABES: Missy R Has A Smokin’ Body (Gorillamask) VIDEOS: Best Weatherman Ever (HolyTaco) NEWS : Crazy Old Man Picks Up a Dime in a Tough Manner (Uncoached) VIDEOS : Avenge Me – the tale of a sexually confused ninja? (CollegeHumor) VIDEOS : The Best Video You Will See This Week (Lemondrop) PICS : ...
  8 hours ago

• Attention Lloyd Blankfein: The Public Purpose of Banking

  
  New Deal 2.0 — Authority: 134
  Marshall Auerback argues that the purpose of banking is not to make a small number of people fabulously wealthy — but (wow!) to serve the public good. It seems odd that days after we were told by Goldman Sachs’s CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, that bankers are doing “God’s work” , we are still having active ...
  9 hours ago

• Dodd: new gov’t powers could prevent economy crash (AP)

  
  Blogger — Authority: 165
  AP – Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd on Tuesday called for sweeping new government powers to prevent another economic collapse, protect consumers and dismantle failing institutions. Here is the original post: (AP)"> (AP)">Dodd: new gov’t powers could prevent economy crash ...
  9 hours ago

• Id Demand A Discount: Shoryuken Fail

  
  Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome — Authority: 755
  This is a picture of some poor bastards Street Fighter tattoo thats supposed to depict the directions for performing Ryus Shoryuken (Rising Dragon Fist). Only thing is, the correct directions are →↓↘ + P, and not ↓→↘ + P. So yeah, thats a whole lot of black ink gone wrong. Although youve got to ...
  9 hours ago

• Robert Pattinson Says His Hygiene is Disgusting

  
  Amy Grindhouse — Authority: 645
  Robert Pattinson has finally admitted what all of us knew the first time we clapped eyes on his nasty locks and all their greasy, drippy goodness. Robert Pattinson doesn’t need to admit he has a negligible sense of his hygiene. His fans know they need to don sowesters or something else, to help fend off the ...
  9 hours ago

• Ah, the journalistic integrity we’ve come to expect

  
  Politics, Economics, Religion and People — Authority: 142
  Fox News Fail Submitted using the FAIL Uploader This video is also viewable at: MySpaceTV | DailyMotion
  10 hours ago

• My Favorite Local Establishment

  
  Tasty Booze — Authority: 596
  Suddenly men are flocking to get their nails done. Warning: Alcohol Will Make You Kiss A Fish This Kid Has His Priorities In Order You Just Got Picture Bombed Monday Rant - Nail Clipping At Work Husband Gets A Surpise At Local Brothel Tracy Morgan - Local Television Broadcast
  10 hours ago

• PASS OR FAIL: Alicia’s “Freedom” Album Cover

  
  HelloBeautiful — Authority: 579
  Alicia Keys’ fourth studio album, “The Element of Freedom” was originally scheduled for a December 1 release, but got pushed back two weeks. We think it’s because her first single, “Doesn’t Mean Anything” didn’t catch on as well as it should have. After all, it only peaked at #60 on the Billboard Hot ...
  10 hours ago

• SpongeBob Beats Leno In Ratings

  
  Celebrity Odor — Authority: 616
  According to AintItCool , Spongebob’s Truth or Square beat out Leno in ratings among adults 18-49 on Friday. I’m thinking the next show to beat out Leno in ratings will be a rerun of The Golden Girls where Beatrice flashes some skin.
  10 hours ago

• No Matter What Your Politics, Sign Bernie Sanders’ Petition on ‘Too Big to Fail’

  
  New Deal 2.0 — Authority: 134
  Our colleagues at self-evident.org have provided a concise definition of ‘Too Big to Fail’: “The term for financial firms whose liabilities are implicitly guaranteed by all of us, free of charge.” Self-evident blogger Nemo asks all of us — no matter what our political leanings or philosophy — to get ...
  12 hours ago

• Starbucks fail.

  
  melting mama — Authority: 136
  So heres a little rant. The hotel we stayed at in Atlanta listed that it had a Starbucks. Heh. What it was, was a kiosk on the wall style coffee stand with hotel staff, with a Starbucks logo and product. I made the mistake of reading the menu, which was...
  12 hours ago

• Oh No. I Broke History.

  
  Fear and Loathing — Authority: 125
  Blog * Its OK, Hiro. It was pretty much wrecked to begin with. Title is from Heroes . Before it became a joke. * I want more pumpkins: [Drawn by Erin ] This skill could also get you into the circus, maybe. Except for the clowns, I would love that. TwiHate * This is a picture . Of Edward Cullen. ...
  14 hours ago

• Lets Hear It for Begging!

  
  Forever In Hell — Authority: 429
  libertarian, health care, charity, fail Theres no zealot like a new zealot, and renaissanceguy is indeed a zealot. A Libertarian zealot. Honestly, Ill take the freaks over at Rapture Ready over Libertarians. A belief that Jesus is going to descend from the sky on a white horse shortly after Kirk Cameron converts in ...
  14 hours ago

• Never pick a fight

  
  Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? — Authority: 733
  Never pick a fight with ceiling cat basement cat lerned teh hard wai. Picture by: Ldac Caption by: Hawkfeather via Our LOL Builder » Recaption This! » View All Captions
  14 hours ago

Comments about fail