screw the pooch
To make a large mistake, to fail in dramatic and ignominious fashionTo make a large mistake, to fail in dramatic and ignominious fashion.
Meaning
1 senses(idiomatic)To make a large mistake, to fail in dramatic and ignominious fashion.
облажа́тьсяoblažátʹsja
Translations
5 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
1950s, from earlier fuck the dog (“fritter, waste time”) (1935) (compare fuck around), lat1950s, from earlier fuck the dog (“fritter, waste time”) (1935) (compare fuck around), later sense of “make an embarrassing mistake” (compare screw up, fuck up). Popularized by use by Tom Wolfe in The Right Stuff (1979), and film adaptation The Right Stuff (1983).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
screws the pooch, screwing the pooch, screwed the pooch, screwed the pooch| Base form | screw the pooch · to screw the pooch |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | screws the pooch |
| Present participle | screwing the pooch |
| Past simple | screwed the pooch |
| Past participle | screwed the pooch |
irregular
Synonyms
2 synonymsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.