wardrobe malfunction

English

Etymology

An Americanism, coined by singer Justin Timberlake in 2004 to explain the incident during Super Bowl XXXVIII in which Janet Jackson's right breast was bared.

Noun

wardrobe malfunction (plural wardrobe malfunctions)

1. (euphemistic) An accidental instance of indecent exposure caused by a fault in someone's clothing (especially that of a performer) or by an error made while changing clothes.

Usage notes

• The regions of the body within the scope of such a "malfunction" usually refers to erogenous regions of the body. Sometimes more specific terms are used, such as nip slip.

Translations

(euphemism) an accidental instance of indecent exposure

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 衣櫥故障／衣橱故障, 衣橱故障 (yīchúgùzhàng), 不小心走光 (bù xiǎoxīn zǒuguāng)

• Danish: funktionsfejl i garderoben
• Dutch: garderobedefect
• Estonian: talitlushäire garderoob
• Finnish: vaatemoka
• French: incident de garde-robe m, défaut de fonctionnement de garde-robe m
• German: (literal) Garderobenstörung f
• Greek: δυσλειτουργία ντουλαπών (dysleitourgía ntoulapón)
• Italian: disfunzione del guardaroba f, incidente del guardaroba m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: ワードローブの機能不全 (wādorōbu no kinōfuzen)
• Korean: 옷장 기능상실 (otjang gineungsangsir)
• Latin: (literal) malfunctiōnamentum vestimentārium, (traditional) incidentum vestimentārium
• Norwegian: funksjonsfeil garderobe
• Portuguese: disfunção de guarda-roupa f
• Russian: неисправность одежды (neispravnost' odezhdy)
• Spanish: malfuncionamiento del guardarropa m, error de induntemaria m
• Swedish: fel på garderoben
• Turkish: frikik (tr)