Dictionary

Murphy's law en · PROPN

Etymology

Named after Edward A. Murphy Jr. (1918–1990), a development engineer who worked for a brief time on the rocket-sled experiments of the United States Air Force in 1948.

Meanings

1. An adage which states that if anything can go wrong, then it will.
   • Thus we find that Murphy's Law is not a coincidence at all, but the consequence of a deep ‘anthropomurphic^([sic]) principle’: any universe built along conventional lines that contains intelligent polymurphs will conform to Murphy's Law. 2004, Ian Stewart, Math Hysteria, OUP Oxford, →ISBN:
   • I ran into the perfect exemplification of “Murphy's law” at one university, where everything that could go wrong did! 1953, Anne Roe, The Making of a Scientist, page 214:
   • ‘It was an application of Murphy's Law,’ said one Vatican dignitary in a resigned voice. What was Murphy's Law? ‘Murphy's Law,’ said the dignitary, ‘is that everything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong.’ 2014, Muriel Spark, The Golden Fleece, Carcanet, →ISBN:

Forms

Coordinates

serendipity · Ettore's observation

Deriveds

Muphry's law

Synonyms

Finagle's law · Sod's law

Translations (20)

sv lagen om alltings jävlighet (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · de Murphys Gesetz (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · ru зако́н Мёрфи (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · eu Murphyren legea (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · sv lagen om alltings inneboende ondska (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · es ley de Murphy (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · hu Murphy törvénye (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · cs Murphyho zákon (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · ru зако́н по́длости (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · sv Murphys lag (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · cmn 墨菲定律 (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · tr Murphy kanunları (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · no Loven om tingenes iboende faenskap. (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · ko 머피의 법칙 (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · el νόμος του Μέρφυ (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · ja マーフィーの法則 (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · fr loi de Murphy (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · pt Lei de Murphy (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · fi Murphyn laki (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will) · cmn 摩菲定理 (adage which states that if anything can go wrong it will)