FAIL is an Internet meme wherein photographs of ironic, confusing, or ill-considered situations or locations are captioned with the word FAIL.
Examples of FAILS
- Bike jump FAIL when a man attempts a simple bike jump, and the bike's frame shatters upon landingYouTube: Bike Stunt Fail (Time: 00:37)
- "Jump FAIL" when a man attempts to spring-jump off of a plastic foot stool into a poolYouTube: Jump Fail (Time: 00: 33)
- Nickleback FAIL when the band Nickleback abruptly ends a show in Portugal after a fan throws a rock at them on stage.YouTube: Nickleback Fail (Time: 00:58)
- "Man vs. Wild" FAIL when the camera pans and reveals a bustling street with cars in what we are to think is the "wild"YouTube: Man vs. Wild FAIL (Time: 0:46)
- Pit crew FAIL when a red sports car's wheels come flying off during a raceYouTube: Pit Crew FAIL (Time: 00:12)
- Masculinity FAIL when a cockroach crawls up a weatherman's leg and he screams shrilly*YouTube: Masculinity Fail (Time: 0:41)
- A worker in an elephant pen finds himself in the back end of a FAIL.YouTube: Elephant Fail
- Microblogging site Twitter employs a graphic of a whale suspended by birds, dubbed the "Fail Whale," when their site is down.Flickr: Twitter Sleeps with the Fishes
- Lauren Caitlin Upton's answer at the2007 Miss Teen USA Pageant
The Roots of FAIL
An ersatz training video from Rocketboom called Know Your Meme (that, of course, fails to get started properly) sets FAIL into context:
"FAIL is the Internet's word of choice for contempt. ... The word has it's mimetic origins in the 1998 neo-geo video game, Blazing Star. The poorly translated game overscreen read 'YOU FAIL IT! YOUR SKILL IS NOT ENOUGH - SEE YOU NEXT TIME - BYE BYE!' As we've learned from memes like 'all your base are belong to us', the combination of Engrish and 8-bit retro awesome can be powerful.
"But is FAIL all bad? Darwinian evolution posits that for every successful adaptation, there's a much larger number of failures. FAIL itself is a precondition for success.
"So the next time you spot FAIL, speak up! Your constructive criticism is making the Internets a better place."—ersatz lab-coated scientistYouTube: Know Your Meme: FAIL (Time: 2:58)
