Cohesive Devices - Exercise

General English Idioms and Phrases for Failure.

Here are 20 idioms and phrases used in native English conversations to express failure:

Drop the ball: To make a mistake, especially by failing to do something you were responsible for.
Fall flat on your face: To fail completely and often publicly.
Bite the dust: To fail, to be defeated, or to come to an end.
Blow it: To completely mess up an opportunity.
Go belly up: To fail completely, often used for businesses or projects.
Screwed up: To make a big mistake.
Crash and burn: To fail spectacularly after a promising start.
Flop: A complete failure.
Fumble the bag: To fail to secure a success or an opportunity.
Miss the boat: To fail to take advantage of an opportunity because you're too late.
Go down in flames: To fail dramatically and spectacularly.
Hit a snag: To encounter an unexpected problem or obstacle that causes a failure or delay.
Come to nothing: To fail to produce any results or success.
Tank: To fail badly or perform poorly.
Wipe out: To fail or fall, often in a physical context like surfing, but also used figuratively.
Break down: To fail to work or function properly.
Come undone: To fail or fall apart, often used for a plan or a person's composure.
Shoot yourself in the foot: To fail by accidentally doing or saying something that hurts your own cause.
Fail miserably: A more direct phrase indicating a complete and total failure.
Miss the mark: To fail to achieve the intended result or standard.

Business English Idioms and Phrases for Failure

Here are 10 idioms and phrases used specifically in business contexts to describe a failure:

Miss the deadline: To fail to complete something by the required time.
Fall short: To fail to meet a target or expectation.
A bust: A complete failure, often used to describe a product, project, or business venture.
Go south: To fail or deteriorate, often used to describe a project's progress or a company's performance.
A non-starter: A project or idea that is doomed to fail from the beginning.
Fail to deliver: To not produce the promised results or performance.
The deal fell through: The negotiation or agreement failed to be finalized.
On the rocks: Facing imminent failure or collapse, often used for a company or partnership.
Stalled: A project or process that has stopped progressing and is likely to fail if not revived.
Hit a wall: To reach a point where progress is impossible, leading to a failure to move forward.

Here are some practical examples using these idioms and phrases in real situations.  Make your own sentences and say them aloud.

Drop the ball:
The new hire dropped the ball on the client report, forgetting to include the final sales figures.
The quarterback dropped the ball at a critical moment, costing the team the game.

Fall flat on your face:
Her elaborate plan to reorganize the department fell flat on its face when no one supported it.
He tried to tell a joke to lighten the mood, but it fell flat on its face, and everyone just stared at him.

Bite the dust:
After a long and successful run, the old restaurant finally bit the dust due to a lack of customers.
My old laptop bit the dust after I spilled coffee all over it.

Blow it:
I had a chance to get a promotion, but I blew it by showing up late to the interview.
The singer had one shot at the big time, and he blew it by forgetting the lyrics on stage.

Go belly up:
After a series of bad investments, the tech startup went belly up.
The small bookstore couldn't compete with online retailers and eventually went belly up.

Screwed up:
I completely screwed up the recipe and now dinner is inedible.
The company screwed up the launch of its new product with a series of technical glitches.

Crash and burn:
The project started with so much promise but ultimately crashed and burned due to poor leadership.
His acting career started strong but then crashed and burned after a few box office failures.

Flop:
The movie was a massive flop, barely making back its production costs.
The new product was a complete flop and was pulled from the shelves within a month.

Fumble the bag:
We had a huge lead in the final minutes, but we fumbled the bag and lost the game.
She fumbled the bag on a major deal, allowing a rival company to swoop in and steal the client.

Miss the boat:
I missed the boat on buying that stock when it was cheap, and now it's too expensive.
He missed the boat on the opportunity to travel the world when he turned down the job offer.

Go down in flames:
The ambitious space mission went down in flames during liftoff.
His attempt to win the debate went down in flames when he couldn't support his arguments with facts.

Hit a snag:
The construction project hit a snag when they discovered a structural problem with the foundation.
Our plans for the weekend hit a snag when my car broke down on the highway.

Come to nothing:
All of our efforts to save the struggling company came to nothing in the end.
The long and difficult negotiation came to nothing when they couldn't agree on a price.

Tank:
The company's stock price completely tanked after the CEO's controversial comments.
The new video game tanked after receiving terrible reviews from critics and players alike.

Wipe out:
He was a beginner surfer and wiped out on his first attempt to catch a big wave.
My first attempt at running a marathon was a disaster; I wiped out after only a few miles.

Break down:
The old car broke down in the middle of a busy highway.
The communication between the two departments broke down, leading to several mistakes.

Come undone:
His carefully constructed alibi came undone under cross-examination.
Her composure came undone when she heard the bad news, and she started to cry.

Shoot yourself in the foot:
He shot himself in the foot by insulting the interviewer during his job interview.
The company shot itself in the foot by raising prices just before a major holiday.

Fail miserably:
The experiment failed miserably, and the scientist had to start over from scratch.
He tried to bake a cake for his mom's birthday, but he failed miserably, burning it to a crisp.

Miss the mark:
The marketing campaign missed the mark and didn't resonate with the target audience.
Her presentation missed the mark because it was too technical for the general audience.

Miss the deadline:
We missed the deadline for the proposal because of a last-minute technical issue.
He was fired for consistently missing the deadline on his assignments.

Fall short:
Our sales figures for the quarter fell short of the company's expectations.
The team's performance fell short of what was needed to win the championship.

A bust:
The new product was a total bust; no one wanted to buy it.
His latest business venture turned out to be a bust, and he lost a lot of money.

Go south:
The project started well, but things went south when the lead developer quit.
The company's finances went south after the stock market crashed.

A non-starter:
The idea of expanding into a new market was a non-starter because of the high costs.
His proposal for a new company logo was a non-starter; the boss hated it.

Fail to deliver:
The company failed to deliver on its promise to improve customer service.
The team's manager was criticized for failing to deliver the promised results.

The deal fell through:
The deal for the merger fell through at the last minute due to a legal disagreement.
Our deal to buy a new house fell through when the seller backed out.

On the rocks:
After a series of poor quarters, the company's finances were on the rocks.
The partnership between the two companies was on the rocks after a major disagreement.

Stalled:
The negotiations for a new contract have stalled, and no one is sure what the next step is.
The project stalled when the team ran into a major technical hurdle they couldn't overcome.

Hit a wall:
The team hit a wall in their research and couldn't find a solution to the problem.
I hit a wall in my attempts to learn a new language and felt like I wasn't making any progress.