Talk:train wreck

It seems to me that "train wreck" idiomatically carries the sense that it's a *public* disaster of huge proportions, and further that people will enjoy gawking at it. - Liz H.

I'm not sure how figurative train wrecks are inevitable. That to me is not always a part of a definition. In the example it refers to an event in the past - if it's already happened it can't be avoided. I think it just means a disaster in the sense of any event with negative consequences. How inevitable it is isn't relevant. Mglovesfun (talk) 21:20, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

I agree with both points here, and am going to adjust the defns accordingly. -- Ghost of WikiPedant 21:36, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

RFV

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"(Music) The point at which many or all musicians in an orchestra fall into unrecoverable discord while playing a piece, usually caused by an incorrect note, missed beat, or poor conducting." Equinox ◑ 16:38, 27 August 2010 (UTC)

For starters, [1] (consistent with the Wiktionary entry) and [2] (although a somewhat different definition). The term is a popular one in music dictionaries, most of which are quite similar to the Wiktionary definition in question. Bob the Wikipedian 00:45, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

I just checked out a few other entries at the two references I listed and realized those two sites looked like pretty specialized slang references. I'll check a couple printed bound music dictionaries when I get a chance this evening and let you know what I find out. Bob the Wikipedian 01:12, 5 September 2010 (UTC)

Here are entries from two more popular and authoritative references:

• train wreck (slang): When the parts in an ensemble "collide" because the musicians are not playing together. Hal Leonard Pocket Music Dictionary, p. 122.
• Train wreck: in jazz, when everything comes off the rails - someone misses a repeat, skips the bridge, and so on. Dolmetsch Online.

Bob the Wikipedian ^{(talk • contribs)} 20:58, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

And can anyone verify the additional sense just added by User:Bob the Wikipedian: "Something that is highly distasteful, yet inspires a morbid fascination"? If that definition is correct, then I guess all those splatter-filled zombie and werewolf films now in vogue must be train wrecks, along with all the sideshow freaks of an older era. -- Ghost of WikiPedant 21:22, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

See also Talk:train wreck. Mglovesfun (talk) 21:33, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

I think you're mistaken...I didn't add that definition. Bob the Wikipedian ^{(talk • contribs)} 22:25, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

Right, sorry. It was added by an anon who had the edit above yours (his/her only edit ever). I'll just delete the fool thing. -- Ghost of WikiPedant 22:30, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

Well that was satisfyingly simple. Bob the Wikipedian ^{(talk • contribs)} 22:38, 12 September 2010 (UTC)

I've added the references to the entry, but RFV-failed the sense as uncited (no citations of use). - -sche (discuss) 00:12, 7 August 2011 (UTC)