Meanings
- UShumorousUsed to report that a (major) problem has occurred.
My own contribution for the BBC London headline at the time was: "Euston, we have a problem."
2025 November 12, Tom Edwards, “Tackling the 'Euston Rush'”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 321 more example
Houston, we have a problem. We're running out of oil! The petroleum that fuels our daily lives is getting harder to find.
2002, Dan Ramsey, Complete Idiot’s Guide to Solar Power for Your Home (Complete Idiot’s Guide), Indianapolis, Ind.: Alpha Books, →ISBN, page xvii
Origin
A misquotation of the phrases “Houston, we’ve had a problem here” and “Houston, we’ve had a problem” said by the American astronauts Jim Lovell (1928–2025) and Jack Swigert (1931–1982), who were crew members of the Apollo 13 moon flight, to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, on April 13, 1970, after an oxygen tank triggered an explosion which led to the mission being aborted. The phrase in the form “Houston, we have a problem” was popularized by the film Apollo 13 (1995). The American screenwriter William Broyles Jr. (born 1944) altered the original phrases as he felt that “[t]he past perfect tense wasn’t as dramatic”. However, the phrase has been used earlier, for example, as the title of a 1974 television movie about the Apollo 13 mission.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque Houston, arazo bat daukagu
- Houston, arazo bat daukaguused to report that a (major) problem has occurred
Bulgarian Хюстън, имаме проблем!
- Хюстън, имаме проблем! (Hjustăn, imame problem!)used to report that a (major) problem has occurred
Dutch Houston, we hebben een probleem
- Houston, we hebben een probleemused to report that a (major) problem has occurred
Finnish Houston, meillä on ongelma
- Houston, meillä on ongelmaused to report that a (major) problem has occurred
French Houston, nous avons un problème
- Houston, nous avons un problèmeused to report that a (major) problem has occurred
German Houston, wir haben ein Problem
- Houston, wir haben ein Problemused to report that a (major) problem has occurred
Italian Houston, abbiamo un problema
- Houston, abbiamo un problemaused to report that a (major) problem has occurred
Polish Houston, mamy problem
- Houston, mamy problemused to report that a (major) problem has occurred
Portuguese Houston, nós temos um problema
- Houston, nós temos um problemaused to report that a (major) problem has occurred
Russian Хьюстон, у нас проблема
- Хьюстон, у нас проблема (Xʹjuston, u nas problema)used to report that a (major) problem has occurred
Spanish Jiuston, tenemos un problema, Houston, tenemos un problema
- Jiuston, tenemos un problemaused to report that a (major) problem has occurred
- Houston, tenemos un problemaused to report that a (major) problem has occurred
Turkish Houston, bir sorunumuz var
- Houston, bir sorunumuz varused to report that a (major) problem has occurred
Ukrainian Г'юстоне, у нас проблема
- Г'юстоне, у нас проблема (Hʺjustone, u nas problema)used to report that a (major) problem has occurred
Cite this entry
Houston, we have a problem. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Houston%2C%20we%20have%20a%20problem
“Houston, we have a problem.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Houston%2C%20we%20have%20a%20problem. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Houston, we have a problem,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Houston%2C%20we%20have%20a%20problem.
Source: Houston, we have a problem on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.