Murphy's law

Murphy's law

The axiom that if something can go wrong, it will. The manager always tries to anticipate Murphy's law, having us prepare for anything that could possibly go wrong on a project. Of course the toast landed butter-side down. Murphy's law.
See also: law
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Murphy's law

If anything can go wrong, it will, as in We may think we've covered all the details for the benefit, but remember Murphy's law . The identity of Murphy, if ever a real person, is unknown. Some think it alludes to (but was not invented by) a feckless Irishman named Murphy. [c. 1940]
See also: law
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

Murphy's law

if anything can go wrong it will.
Murphy's law is said to have been the inspiration of a Californian project manager for the firm Northrop, referring to a remark made in 1949 by a colleague, Captain Edward Murphy of the Wright Field-Aircraft Laboratory. In 1955 , Aviation Mechanics Bulletin explained Murphy's Law as ‘If an aircraft part can be installed incorrectly, someone will install it that way’.
See also: law
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

ˌMurphy’s ˈLaw

(humorous) a statement of the fact that, if anything can possibly go wrong, it will go wrong: Of course it had to be the day of my job interview that the car broke down — it’s Murphy’s Law.This expression was named after Edward A. Murphy, Jr., an engineer in the US Air Force.
See also: law
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

Murphy's law

If anything can go wrong, it will. This expression appears to have originated in the mid-1900s in the U.S. Air Force. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle of March 16, 1978 (cited in the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang), during some testing at Edwards Air Force Base in 1949 Captain Ed Murphy, an engineer, was frustrated with a malfunctioning part and said about the technician responsible, “If there is any way to do things wrong, he will.”Within weeks his statement was referred to as “Murphy’s Law,” and by about 1960 it had entered the civilian vocabulary and was attached to just about any mistake or mishap. In succeeding decades it became a cliché.
See also: law
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • if anything can go wrong, it will
  • measure twice and cut once
  • measure twice, cut once
  • bargain on
  • bargain on (something)
  • have (got) (one's) number
  • have somebody's number
  • have someone's number
  • plan on
References in periodicals archive
A very courageous decision was taken, a couple of series back, to take Murphy's Law to the dark side and it was the right decision.
MURPHY'S RAW; EXCLUSIVE 'I missed my family like crazy but role this tough meant I had to keep away for their sakes' - SAYS MURPHY'S LAW STAR JAMES NESBITT
Even NASA's Mercury astronauts recognized Murphy's Law in 1962 in a Navy training film.
Murphy's Law: Airman's safety concerns become cultural phenomenon
That was a perfect example of Murphy's Law. If you draw your bow while the buck walks through the thicket, he will stop and test your holding ability.
Bad-luck bucks: the craziest things can go wrong in the deer woods
Murphy's Law runs for six episodes and each one sees Nesbitt adopting a different undercover persona.
Television: Like Murphy's I'm not bitter; Cheeky chap James explores his dark side
The lead role of a maverick cop in new TV drama Murphy's Law was written especially for him.
FACE OF THE DAY : JAMES NESBITT
In really, running an enterprise is complicated, and Murphy's Law rears its head quite regularly.
You need to know
Murphy's Law says that if it can go wrong, it will.
In This Issue
In a classic case of Murphy's Law, whatever could go wrong did and Roger arrived at Cannes late, with no chance of getting his Web site launched in time for the festival.
From sea to sea: Toronto
But a recent server malfunction had caused a three-week interruption in our nightly backup regimen, proving Murphy's Law as it applies to a technologically dependent civilization: anything that can possibly malfunction will--and at the worst possible time.
The Tech Files
The bad news is that the debate showed that Murphy's Law was written with America's health care reformers in mind: "Silver Bullet" health care legislation, Califano argues, is doomed to failure.
Radical Surgery
Some say the new hedging tool defies Murphy's law, because you just can't lose.
The futures look bright
Many have been the applications of Murphy's Law (in original form: If anything can go wrong, it will).
Murphological observations for corporate editors
All of us are probably familiar with Murphy's Law, if not by name then by experience.
The cell phone sized jump starter
If it does, you will be tempted to think Murphy's Law proven.
Universal law says ... things will go wrong
I'M a huge admirer of Jimmy Nesbitt in Murphy's Law, particularly his fine Zapata moustache, his glowering screen presence and his propensity for saying things like "You can kiss my a*se in Harrods' window."
bushell on the box: Jimmy Nesbitt