fiasco

Meaning

Noun

• A sudden or unexpected failure.
• A ludicrous or humiliating situation. Some effort that went quite wrong.
• A wine bottle in a (usually straw) jacket.

Origin

• Borrowed from Italian fiasco ("bottle, flask"), from Late Latin flasca, flascō, from Frankish *flaska ("bottle, flask") from Proto-Germanic *flaskǭ ("bottle"); see flask. “Failure” sense comes through French faire fiasco from Italian theatrical slang far fiasco, of uncertain origin; perhaps from an expression fare il fiasco, meaning to play a game with the forfeit that the loser will buy the next bottle or round of drinks.