When Things Go Very, Very Wrong

When Things Go Very, Very Wrong

Welcome to VOA Learning English’s program Words and Their Stories.

Life is not perfect. Things go wrong. We make mistakes. We have mishaps¹ and failures. 

But mistakes, mishaps and failures are nothing compared to a fiasco!

A fiasco is something that goes completely wrong often in a ridiculous or embarrassing way. It is dramatic and sometimes absurd. These are all important words when talking about fiascos. They are what make fiascos different from other types of failures.

Fiasco is an Italian word meaning “bottle.” The Italians use the word fiasco in a phrase that literally² means “to make a bottle.” But Italians also use it to mean “a dramatic mess.” Many word experts are not sure why “making a bottle” means something is a complete failure.

According to the Oxford³ English Dictionary, “fiasco” entered English in the mid-1800s. At that time it meant a “breakdown in a dramatic or musical performance.” Basically, a theatrical⁴ screw up.

Perhaps the best way to explain fiasco is with a story.

Our story begins at an outdoor wedding. A beautiful tent is set up outside. A group of jazz musicians are playing. And 100 guests are dressed in their best clothes.  

Unfortunately, the bride’s best friend, the maid of honor, is sick. She is taking lots of medication. She also never drinks alcohol. But today, she celebrates her best friend’s marriage with a glass of champagne⁵.

The mixture of alcohol and medicine affects her terribly. Not realizing what she is doing, she dances wildly on the dance floor. She yells loudly, “I love these two people!”

This usually would not be a problem. But her timing⁶ is bad. She interrupts the bride and groom⁷ during their first traditional dance as man and wife.             

People laugh nervously⁸. Perhaps they think this is part of the ceremony. So, this is a faux pas, a mistake. But the wedding is not a wreck⁹ or a disaster. It can be fixed¹⁰.

We are still far from a fiasco.

But as the best man leads the maid of honor back to her seat, his foot catches on the tablecloth¹¹. Candles fall and catch the tablecloth on fire. The fire quickly spreads to the curtains. People jump up, screaming.              

Just then a fire truck appears. As a dozen firemen run into the tent, they knock over the four-story, $2000 wedding cake.

The cake crashes to the floor. The firemen slip on the cake. Then their hose trips a group of people who fall backward into the bird cage. The birds -- meant to celebrate peace and love -- are now freaking out and flying into people’s hair.

Now the wedding is a disaster, but still not fiasco. 

The maid of honor flees the scene in the expensive, rental¹² bridal car. But a rope from the tent gets caught in the door. As she pushes hard on the gas pedal, the tent crashes to the ground with all the guests and birds still under it.

The entire wedding party and a flock of frightened birds escape from under the tent just as the rental car drives into the lake. They all run over to see if the maid of honor is okay.

But with too many people standing¹³ on the wooden pier¹⁴, the dock breaks. Dozens of wedding guests splash into the lake.

Welcome to the world of FIASCO!

No one is hurt. People often aren’t seriously hurt in a fiasco. That would make it a tragedy. But it is safe to say that this wedding is a fiasco!

Fiascos may be complete failures. But sometimes they are our best stories.

Words in This Story

ridiculous – adj. extremely silly or unreasonable¹⁵

embarrassing – adj. to make (someone) feel confused and foolish in front of other people

dramatic – adj. attracting attention

absurd – adj. extremely silly, foolish, or unreasonable

1 mishaps   

n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a series of mishaps 一连串的倒霉事
• In spite of one or two minor mishaps everything was going swimmingly. 尽管遇到了一两件小小的不幸，一切都进行得很顺利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

4 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

5 champagne   

n.香槟酒；微黄色

参考例句：

• There were two glasses of champagne on the tray.托盘里有两杯香槟酒。
• They sat there swilling champagne.他们坐在那里大喝香槟酒。

6 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

7 groom   

vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁

参考例句：

• His father was a groom.他父亲曾是个马夫。
• George was already being groomed for the top job.为承担这份高级工作，乔治已在接受专门的培训。

8 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

9 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

10 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

11 tablecloth   

n.桌布，台布

参考例句：

• He sat there ruminating and picking at the tablecloth.他坐在那儿沉思，轻轻地抚弄着桌布。
• She smoothed down a wrinkled tablecloth.她把起皱的桌布熨平了。

12 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

15 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。