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Peter Sokolowski: 今天要讲的单词是 fiasco,它是一个名词,指的是彻底的失败或灾难。这个词来自意大利语的“fare fiasco”,字面意思是“做瓶子”,但“failure from bottle” 含义的起源仍然不清楚。有一种猜测是,威尼斯玻璃工匠如果发现他们正在制作的精美作品出现瑕疵,他们会把它变成一个普通的瓶子,避免销毁它。这样,瓶子就代表了玻璃工匠的失败,因为他们原本可以创造艺术品,最终却只能制作日常玻璃器皿。不过,这个理论尚未得到证实。

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It's the Word of the Day podcast for May 28th.

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Today's word is fiasco, spelled F-I-A-S-C-O. Fiasco is a noun. A fiasco is a complete failure or disaster. Here's the word used in a sentence from The Sentinel and Enterprise of Fitchburg, Massachusetts by Teresa Brayne.

Fyre's first iteration in 2017 was widely seen as a massive failure. The Luke's accommodations, promised on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma, turned out to be tents, and instead of the promised gourmet fare, guests were served cold cheese sandwiches. After musical acts bailed at the last minute, attendees were left stranded as organizers cancelled the festival entirely.

English speakers picked up the word fiasco from the French, who in turn adopted it from the Italian phrase "fare fiasco" literally "to make a bottle." Just what prompted the development of the meaning "failure from bottle" has remained obscure. One guess is that when a Venetian glassblower would discover a flaw developing in a beautiful piece they were working on, they would turn it into an ordinary bottle and avoid having to destroy the object.

The bottle would naturally represent a failure to the glassblower, whose would-be work of art was downgraded to everyday glassware. This theory, however, remains unsubstantiated. With your Word of the Day, I'm Peter Sokolowski. Visit Merriam-Webster.com today for definitions, wordplay, and trending word lookups.