dumpster fire
dumpster fire – sostantivo
For many, 2016 was a billowing dumpster fire doused repeatedly with gasoline.
This has been sort of a dumpster fire of an election campaign.
The Jets’ passing game is a dumpster fire at the moment.
This team has been a dumpster fire all season.
Firefighters were called to a dumpster fire close to an apartment block.
Chi segue regolarmente questo blog si ricorderà forse che l’anno scorso abbiamo parlato del termine dumpster diving. Anche dumpster fire, parola dell’anno 2016 secondo l’American Dialect Society, si riferisce al cassonetto dei rifiuti chiamato dumpster nell’inglese americano; e sì, dumpster fire può essere un vero cassonetto che va a fuoco ma è il significato figurato del termine quello scelto dall’ADS. Un dumpster fire è una situazione caotica e mal gestita; qualcosa che non sarebbe dovuta succedere e che è peggiorata a causa dell’attività (o dell’inerzia) delle persone chiamate a gestirla. E una volta che il rogo è divampato non rimane altro da fare se non aspettare che si estingua.
Il termine è usato principalmente nell’inglese americano; dell’equivalente britannico skip fire finora è attestato solo il senso letterale.
Origini del termine
L’espressione dumpster fire col significato di ‘situazione disastrosa’ circola da un pezzo, specialmente per riferirsi a una squadra che delude le aspettative dei tifosi. Nel corso del 2016, però, l’uso del termine si è esteso a esprimere un commento più generale sul caos in cui sembrano versare la politica e il mondo intero.
Traduzione di Loredana Riu
dumpster fire – noun
For many, 2016 was a billowing dumpster fire doused repeatedly with gasoline.
This has been sort of a dumpster fire of an election campaign.
The Jets’ passing game is a dumpster fire at the moment.
This team has been a dumpster fire all season.
Firefighters were called to a dumpster fire close to an apartment block.
If you have been following these posts for a while, you may remember that last year we looked at the term dumpster diving. Dumpster fire, which has just been chosen by the American Dialect Society as its Word of the Year, also refers to the large metal trash containers known in the US as dumpsters. Although a dumpster fire can be a literal fire in a literal dumpster, in the sense chosen by the ADS both the dumpster and the fire alluded to are metaphorical. A dumpster fire is, in fact, a situation that is both chaotic and badly handled; one that should not have occurred in the first place, and has been exacerbated by the actions (or inaction) of those whose job it is to deal with it. Now that it has become established there is little anyone can do but watch it burn itself out.
The term is used mainly in American English, with the British equivalent skip fire so far being limited to the literal use.
Origins
The term dumpster fire used to refer to a disastrous situation has been around for a while, usually in reference to a sports team that is not doing as well as its supporters hoped and expected. However, over the course of 2016 , it moved from this rather restricted use to become a much more general commentary on the perceived messiness of the political situation and of the world in general.
