the.com/misfire
the gun says click when it should say bang, and everyone flinches at the wrong moment.
means an attempt that fails to launch or fails to land, whether that's a bullet, a joke, or a plan.
from born as a literal 1800s term for a firearm or engine failing to ignite properly, then drafted by everyday language to describe any effort that fizzles instead of fires.
original domainfirearms and combustion engines, not comedy
figurative jumphappened by the late 1800s
still technicalengineers use it precisely for ignition failure
emotional cousinbackfire, which actively hurts you instead
for instance
new coke — 1985 relaunch so unpopular it reversed in 79 days
quibi — 2020 streaming app, shut down after 6 months, $1.75b burned
google glass — 2013 launch mocked into near-total withdrawal by 2015
windows vista — 2007 os so buggy microsoft rushed windows 7 to fix it