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Page 4 of 4 < 1 2 3 4 Topic Options #38377 - 08/19/01 06:27 PM Re: You people are useless! I demand a refund! Jazzoctopus old hand Registered: 07/03/00 Posts: 1094 Loc: Cincinnati & Loveland, Ohio, U... Ok, Max, here's the "definitive" answer on fiasco from Merriam-Webster's Buzzword for kids: The Italian "fiasco" refers to a round-bottomed, straw-covered bottle traditionally used to hold inexpensive wines. The phrase "fare fiasco" literally means "to make a bottle," but it is used in Italian as an expression for "to fail." No one knows for sure how this meaning came about. One theory claims that it started when a famous 17th-century comic actor gave a performance involving a bottle. The performance was supposedly so bad it led to the expression meaning "to fail." No evidence supports this story, so, as the Italians would say, don't let it "hang the bottle on you"—that is to say, don't let it trick you. Top #38378 - 08/19/01 07:15 PM Max Quordlepleen Carpal Tunnel Registered: 08/12/00 Posts: 3409 Top #38379 - 08/22/01 05:27 PM Re: You people are useless! I demand a refund! ChrisMiss stranger Registered: 07/26/01 Posts: 4 Loc: California So am I to take it fiasco is not derived from the automobile named Fiat? (Blinking innocently...) Top Page 4 of 4 < 1 2 3 4 Previous Topic Index Next Topic Preview Hop to: General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. (have been consolidated into a single forum above) ------   Words from medicine   Beheading words   Meta-words   Words from classical mythology   Animal Safari   Words with unusual etymologies   Eponyms or words derived from people's names.   Loanwords from German   English as a global language Moderator:  Jackie  Print Topic Switch to Threaded Mode View profile Send a PM View homepage Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM View homepage Add to your Watched Users View posts Forum Stats 8427 Members 16 Forums 13687 Topics 209798 Posts Max Online: 3341 @ 12/09/11 02:15 PM Newest Members sylviasuper, continent2, a2teacher, teepee, smoothcriminal86 8426 Registered Users Who's Online 2 registered (Marksma, wofahulicodoc), 21 Guests and 2 Spiders online. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters (30 Days) LukeJavan8 87 jenny jenny 57 wofahulicodoc 56 endymion6 49 Rhubarb Commando 38 BranShea 33 Faldage 14 Buffalo Shrdlu 14 zmjezhd 13 tsuwm 11 May Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

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