blooper

What it means

1. informalA blunder, an error.

   2 more examples

   Why do my readers and informants so delight in bloopers and boo-boos, fluffs and flubs, and goofs and gaffes? […] The humor in bloopers lies, in part, in the listener's awareness of the speaker's vulnerability. It is the very artlessness of linguistic lapses that makes them so endearing and makes us feel superior.

   1996 November, Richard Lederer, “Introduction”, in Fractured English: A Pleasury of Bloopers and Blunders, Fluffs and Flubs, and Gaffes and Goofs, 1st trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page xv

   This chapter describes the most common responsiveness bloopers and explains why developers commit them. It is organized differently from the other bloopers chapters of this book because responsiveness bloopers are all closely related to one another; they are all really variations on the same underlying blooper, with the same underlying reasons and solutions.

   2000, Jeff Johnson, “Responsiveness Bloopers”, in Diane D. Cerra, editor, GUI Bloopers: Don’ts and Do’s for Software Developers and Web Designers, San Francisco, Calif.: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, →ISBN, page 368

   Synonyms: boo-boo, faux pas, fluff, gaffe, lapse, mistake, slip, stumble

2. slangball gamesA fly ball that is weakly hit just over the infielders.First known use 19th c.

   The blooper, delivered with a shot-put motion, floated in an arc that reached twenty-five feet, then suddenly dropped across home plate in the strike zone.

   2003, Richard F. Peterson, The Pirates Reader, Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, →ISBN, page 139

   1 more example

   Again the blooper wafted up to the plate. Ted waited and waited and then let loose. The ball rose in a high trajectory and sailed deep into the bullpen for a homer. The fans roared. The slugger had killed the blooper.

   1949, Jimmy Powers, Baseball Personalities: The Most Colorful Figures of All Time, New York, N.Y.: R. Field, →OCLC, page 254

   Synonyms: banjo hit, flare, Texas leaguer

3. informalbroadcastingA filmed or videotaped outtake that has recorded an amusing accident or mistake.

   With DVDs steadily joining VHS cassettes as extinct technology, what has become of the fun, insightful mixed bag that movie fans came to know as bonus features — the audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, bloopers, deleted scenes and alternate endings?

   2018 April 6, Fabrice Robinet, “Oh for the Days of the Making-Of Featurette — Seriously”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   2 more examples

   WLK. First radio station. On December 31, 1921, local engineer Francis F. Hamilton's radio station, 9ZJ, signed on with an address from Mayor Samuel (Lew) Shank. Broadcasting from Hamilton's garage at 2011 North Alabama Street, Shank made the city's first radio blooper: "Hamilton, do you mean to tell me that people can actually hear me over that damn' dingus?"

   1921 December 31, “WLK”, in David J. Bodenhamer and Robert G[raham] Barrows, with the assistance of David G[ordon] Vanderstel, editors, The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, Bloominton; Indianapolis, Ind.: Indiana University Press, published 1994, →ISBN, page 1399, column 2

   The 10th anniversary of the Kermit Schafer Blooper LP's on Jubilee will be marked by a brand-new blooper LP called "Washington Bloopers." Set is the 12th in the blooper series which started in 1953. […] Schafer's blooper packages have become so popular that he has formed a Blooper Snooper Club. Members of the club get prizes for blooper contributions, and it will soon have a monthly newsletter.

   1963 August 24, “Some Goof: Success through Mistakes”, in Lee Zhito, editor, Billboard: The International Music-record Newsweekly, volume 75, number 34, Cincinnati, Oh.: The Billboard Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 7, columns 1 and 3

In a sentence

Why do my readers and informants so delight in bloopers and boo-boos, fluffs and flubs, and goofs and gaffes? […] The humor in bloopers lies, in part, in the listener's awareness of the speaker's vulnerability. It is the very artlessness of linguistic lapses that makes them so endearing and makes us feel superior.

1996 November, Richard Lederer, “Introduction”, in Fractured English: A Pleasury of Bloopers and Blunders, Fluffs and Flubs, and Gaffes and Goofs, 1st trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page xv

Where it comes from

From bloop + -er, of US origin.

First known use: 19th c.