English Language & Usage Asked by Nic T on April 13, 2021
For context, I first heard this idiom used some months ago in my workplace which deals with cinema and storytelling, so there’s a chance it might be a trope and not a colloquial idiom or similar. The structure is "an X Y", like "a Pyrrhic victory" or "a dead duck."
It’s meant to describe an effort where there are a string of mistakes, some of which compound into another – "a series of unfortunate events" – but at the end of it all, the job is still complete, or the victory is still had. The tonality is neutral to positive. A friend suggested "by the skin of one’s teeth" which is similar but it doesn’t hit the structure and the tonality is more… earnest? Whereas the one I’m thinking of is almost comical.
I’m sure you lot get questions like these all the time so I sincerely appreciate any and all help! Thank you!
Choice may depend on context and on the degree to which you specify a "string of mistakes", but four notions come to mind:
It is the "right outcome for the wrong reasons", a "happy accident", a fluke.
Right for the Wrong Reasons
Someone makes a conclusion based on what they perceive are facts. Their conclusion is correct but the assumed facts themselves are wrong.
happy accident = when something unexpectedly good comes from what would otherwise be considered a mishap.
"The discovery of Guinness was a happy accident"
fluke = something good that has happened that is the result of chance instead of skill or planning
Another single word description is
serendipitous: come upon or found by accident; fortuitous:
"serendipitous scientific discoveries."
of, relating to, or suggesting serendipity. good; beneficial; favorable:
"serendipitous weather for our vacation."
Answered by Anton on April 13, 2021
UPDATE: Unfortunately none of the answers here quite came close, so I did a lot of internet digging. My room mate of all people wound up linking me to some old website with lists of idioms that I went through one by one - "comedy of errors" is what I was looking for!
Answered by Nic T on April 13, 2021
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