fiasco
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Italian fiasco (“‘bottle, flask’”) from Late Latin flasca, flascō "bottle, container", of Germanic origin, from Frankish flaska "bottle, flask" from Proto-Germanic *flaskon- (“‘bottle’”). More at flask.
Italian fiasco is the type of round wine bottle, sometimes wrapped in straw, used traditionally for Chianti wine. The failure sense specifically derives via French from the Italian phrase fare fiasco, literally meaning “make a bottle” (used in Italian theatre to mean “failure in a performance”). This is similar to the informal British English usage of "to bottle out" meaning to "lose one's nerve".
An alternative interpretation of the Italian “far fiasco” as a meaning for failure can be traced to production of glass bottles by glass blowing. A mistake in the process would result in a bottle of irregular shape with protruding or enlarged base is termed “fiasco” as opposed to bottiglia (“‘bottle’”).
[edit] Pronunciation
- IPA: /fɪˈæs.kəʊ/, SAMPA: /fI"{s.k@U/
- Audio (US)help, file
[edit] Noun
fiasco (plural fiascos, fiascoes)
- A ludicrous or humiliating failure. Some effort that went quite wrong.
- A wine bottle in a (usually straw) jacket.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Translations
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Concise Oxford Dictionary, s. v. fiasco.
- Compact Oxford English Dictionary on-line.
- The Word Detective, Issue of Oct 30, 2001.
[edit] Italian
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
fiasco m. (plural fiaschi)
