How did a word for an Italian drinking flask come to acquire an entirely different meaning in everyday English?

TabbyTom

The figurative sense of “failure” is also Italian in origin. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “The figurative use of the phrase far fiasco (lit. ‘to make a bottle’) in the sense ‘to break down or fail in a performance’ is of obscure origin; Italian etymologists have proposed various guesses, and alleged incidents in Italian theatrical history are related to account for it.” Brewer says that the word was used by Venetian glassblowers to describe bad workmanship, and suggests that it may originally have referred to the bursting of a bottle. Brewer also mentions theatrical anecdotes, but doesn’t give examples. The Italian word, in its figurative sense, is also used in French and German, and very probably in other languages as well. Sep 29 04, 5:58 PM

gmackematix

"Si" per Tomaso il Gatto (I've no idea what "tabby" is in Italian). The idea of Venetian glassblowers at operas shouting the Italian for "do a bottle" at poor performances has always sounded likely to me. Sep 30 04, 7:51 PM