balls-up
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: - A serious mistake or failure; a situation that has been badly mismanaged or confused. This term refers to an error or mess, often resulting from incompetence or poor planning, that leads to a chaotic or unsuccessful outcome.
Usage
This word is a noun used to describe a botched job, a muddle, or a complete failure. It is informal and considered mildly vulgar in some contexts due to its origin.
Examples
- Noun:
- The new software rollout was a complete balls-up; nothing worked as intended.
- I made a real balls-up of the presentation by forgetting my notes and confusing the data.
Advanced Usage
- "to make a balls-up of something": This is the most common construction, meaning to handle something so poorly that it becomes a failure.
- He made a balls-up of the negotiations and lost the deal.
Variants and Related Words
- Cock-up (noun, chiefly British): A very similar informal synonym for a mistake or muddle.
- The event was a total cock-up from start to finish.
- Botch (noun/verb): An act or instance of botching; to carry out a task badly.
- The repair was a botch. / He botched the repair job.
Synonyms
- Debacle: A sudden and disastrous collapse, failure, or defeat.
- Fiasco: A complete failure, especially in a ludicrous or humiliating way.
- Mess: A situation that is confused and full of problems.
- Screw-up (noun, informal): An error or blunder.
Related Phrases
- To balls something up (verb, informal, chiefly British): To ruin or mismanage something completely. (Note: This is a phrasal verb derived from the noun).
- I'm afraid I've ballsed up the booking; I got the dates wrong.
Noun
- something badly botched or muddled