Dictionary

flash in the pan en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From the days of flintlock firearms, where the main charge was intended to be fired by a small charge of gunpowder in the flash pan. If the resultant fire did not pass through the touch hole and ignite the main charge, it produced noise and smoke, but no substantial effect, and was termed a flash in the pan. Sometimes called fluff in the pan, the term refers to any ineffectual, short, spasmodic effort that dies in the attempt, such as an explosion of priming in the lockpan of a gun while the gun itself does not go off.

Meanings

1. (figuratively) A transient occurrence with no long-term impact.
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:flash in the pan.
   • The concept turned out to be merely a flash in the pan and is no longer used.
   • The new dinner lady: 10 years on, can an Ottolenghi chef prove Jamie Oliver's revolution wasn't a flash in the pan? [title] 2015 April 4, Sally Weale, “The new dinner lady: 10 years on, can an Ottolenghi chef prove Jamie Oliver's revolution wasn't a flash in the pan”, in The Guardian:
2. (figuratively) A career notable for early success that is not followed by any significant accomplishment.
   • He was named Best New Director of 1940, but his career was a flash in the pan.

Forms

Relateds

much ado about nothing · lock, stock and barrel · one-hit wonder · lightning in a bottle · go off half-cocked · wild-goose chase · damp squib · burst someone's bubble · flash pan · sleeveless errand

Translations (25)

ru однодневка (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · duf fx9s (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · fi tähdenlento (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · hu rövid fellángolás (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · ga rith searraigh (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · cy siafins (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · de Strohfeuer (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · cy tân eithin (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · fr feu de paille (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · de Eintagsfliege (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · th ไฟไหม้ฟาง (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · cmn 曇花一現 /昙花一现 (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · pl chwilowy sukces (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · it fuoco di paglia (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · hu egyszeri felvillanás (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · sv dagslända (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · hu szalmaláng (szerű teljesítmény) (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · ru мимолетный успех (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · es llamarada de petate (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · es flor de un día (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · ga gal soip (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · tr saman alevi (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · ca flamarada (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · pt fogo de palha (transient occurrence with no long-term effect) · hu gyorsan elmúló siker (transient occurrence with no long-term effect)