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What is a synonym for perfect storm?
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I am composing a letter to the owner of my company. In the letter I am trying to describe a situation where a problem occurred due to a confluence of failures. E.G. Our tom-foolery server crashed, because the backup failed and the widget was faulty and the wickets were rusty and the elbows weren't bent enough. The system wouldn't have crashed, but for this coincidence of these specific failures.
The phrase that first came to mind was "Perfect Storm" which is defined by MacMillan Dictionary as follows:
a very unpleasant situation in which several bad things happen at once
Normally the server can handle a backup failure without crashing, but that was not the case today due to a ________________.
I am worried that Perfect Storm may not be easily understood in this context. I am hoping that I can find a word or phrase that will be understandable and professional.
I have searched for synonyms to Perfect Storm with no success. There are a couple of questions here on ELU that are related to the phrase, but unfortunately none answer my question.
I am hopeful that you can help me. Please feel free to reword my example sentence in any way you would like.
What is a synonym for Perfect Storm?
phrase-requests
asked 2 hours ago
Lumberjack
4,3161132
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
I am composing a letter to the owner of my company. In the letter I am trying to describe a situation where a problem occurred due to a confluence of failures. E.G. Our tom-foolery server crashed, because the backup failed and the widget was faulty and the wickets were rusty and the elbows weren't bent enough. The system wouldn't have crashed, but for this coincidence of these specific failures.
The phrase that first came to mind was "Perfect Storm" which is defined by MacMillan Dictionary as follows:
a very unpleasant situation in which several bad things happen at once
Normally the server can handle a backup failure without crashing, but that was not the case today due to a ________________.
I am worried that Perfect Storm may not be easily understood in this context. I am hoping that I can find a word or phrase that will be understandable and professional.
I have searched for synonyms to Perfect Storm with no success. There are a couple of questions here on ELU that are related to the phrase, but unfortunately none answer my question.
I am hopeful that you can help me. Please feel free to reword my example sentence in any way you would like.
What is a synonym for Perfect Storm?
phrase-requests
asked 2 hours ago
Lumberjack
4,3161132
I think "perfect storm" would actually be understood.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
@Barmar I must respectfully disagree. My boss doesn't get out much and doesn't watch many movies. The one time I did use the phrase in his presence he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
– Lumberjack
1 hour ago
You don't have to watch movies. It's a common metaphor, although it did become more well known after the movie.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
Then say coincidence, like you said in the question.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
@Barmar Thank you for your reassurances. I appreciate the kindness and the spirit your comments stem from, but I really would like to find a synonym if there is one out there.
– Lumberjack
1 hour ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
I am composing a letter to the owner of my company. In the letter I am trying to describe a situation where a problem occurred due to a confluence of failures. E.G. Our tom-foolery server crashed, because the backup failed and the widget was faulty and the wickets were rusty and the elbows weren't bent enough. The system wouldn't have crashed, but for this coincidence of these specific failures.
The phrase that first came to mind was "Perfect Storm" which is defined by MacMillan Dictionary as follows:
a very unpleasant situation in which several bad things happen at once
Normally the server can handle a backup failure without crashing, but that was not the case today due to a ________________.
I am worried that Perfect Storm may not be easily understood in this context. I am hoping that I can find a word or phrase that will be understandable and professional.
I have searched for synonyms to Perfect Storm with no success. There are a couple of questions here on ELU that are related to the phrase, but unfortunately none answer my question.
I am hopeful that you can help me. Please feel free to reword my example sentence in any way you would like.
What is a synonym for Perfect Storm?
phrase-requests
asked 2 hours ago
Lumberjack
4,3161132
I am composing a letter to the owner of my company. In the letter I am trying to describe a situation where a problem occurred due to a confluence of failures. E.G. Our tom-foolery server crashed, because the backup failed and the widget was faulty and the wickets were rusty and the elbows weren't bent enough. The system wouldn't have crashed, but for this coincidence of these specific failures.
The phrase that first came to mind was "Perfect Storm" which is defined by MacMillan Dictionary as follows:
a very unpleasant situation in which several bad things happen at once
Normally the server can handle a backup failure without crashing, but that was not the case today due to a ________________.
I am worried that Perfect Storm may not be easily understood in this context. I am hoping that I can find a word or phrase that will be understandable and professional.
I have searched for synonyms to Perfect Storm with no success. There are a couple of questions here on ELU that are related to the phrase, but unfortunately none answer my question.
I am hopeful that you can help me. Please feel free to reword my example sentence in any way you would like.
What is a synonym for Perfect Storm?
phrase-requests
phrase-requests
asked 2 hours ago
Lumberjack
4,3161132
asked 2 hours ago
Lumberjack
4,3161132
asked 2 hours ago
Lumberjack
4,3161132
asked 2 hours ago
Lumberjack
4,3161132
asked 2 hours ago
Lumberjack
4,3161132
4,3161132
I think "perfect storm" would actually be understood.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
@Barmar I must respectfully disagree. My boss doesn't get out much and doesn't watch many movies. The one time I did use the phrase in his presence he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
– Lumberjack
1 hour ago
You don't have to watch movies. It's a common metaphor, although it did become more well known after the movie.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
Then say coincidence, like you said in the question.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
@Barmar Thank you for your reassurances. I appreciate the kindness and the spirit your comments stem from, but I really would like to find a synonym if there is one out there.
– Lumberjack
1 hour ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
I think "perfect storm" would actually be understood.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
@Barmar I must respectfully disagree. My boss doesn't get out much and doesn't watch many movies. The one time I did use the phrase in his presence he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
– Lumberjack
1 hour ago
You don't have to watch movies. It's a common metaphor, although it did become more well known after the movie.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
Then say coincidence, like you said in the question.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
@Barmar Thank you for your reassurances. I appreciate the kindness and the spirit your comments stem from, but I really would like to find a synonym if there is one out there.
– Lumberjack
1 hour ago
I think "perfect storm" would actually be understood.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
I think "perfect storm" would actually be understood.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
@Barmar I must respectfully disagree. My boss doesn't get out much and doesn't watch many movies. The one time I did use the phrase in his presence he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
– Lumberjack
1 hour ago
@Barmar I must respectfully disagree. My boss doesn't get out much and doesn't watch many movies. The one time I did use the phrase in his presence he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
– Lumberjack
1 hour ago
You don't have to watch movies. It's a common metaphor, although it did become more well known after the movie.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
You don't have to watch movies. It's a common metaphor, although it did become more well known after the movie.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
Then say coincidence, like you said in the question.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
Then say coincidence, like you said in the question.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
@Barmar Thank you for your reassurances. I appreciate the kindness and the spirit your comments stem from, but I really would like to find a synonym if there is one out there.
– Lumberjack
1 hour ago
@Barmar Thank you for your reassurances. I appreciate the kindness and the spirit your comments stem from, but I really would like to find a synonym if there is one out there.
– Lumberjack
1 hour ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
up vote
4
down vote
You might refer to the situation as a confluence of errors...
: a coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point
• a happy confluence of weather and scenery
definition from m-w.com
answered 1 hour ago
Hellion
52.1k13107194
I was thinking something similar... Due to a confluence of events--nay, a perfect storm--and subsequent conflagration of... Ha-ha, actually, I never knew a perfect storm was anything other than a storm with really big waves...at least 80 ft in hurricane country.
– KannE
48 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
None of these words have exactly the same meaning as perfect storm, but they might suffice. Debacle and fiasco both mean a complete (and humiliating) failure:
debacle
NOUN
A sudden and ignominious failure; a fiasco.
‘the only man to reach double figures in the second-innings debacle’
(from the Oxford Living Dictionaries)
fiasco
NOUN
A complete failure, especially a ludicrous or humiliating one.
‘his plans turned into a fiasco’
Unless your boss is British, he likely won't understand the word omnishambles and it doesn't really fit, but I just discovered it and quite like it:
omnishambles
NOUN
British
informal
A situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations.
‘anyone with five minutes to spare, a Maths GCSE, and a calculator could have averted the entire omnishambles by checking the civil servants' sums’
If you want to stress that the issue was caused by a combination of events out of your control (as in, it wasn't your fault), your best bet is probably perfect storm, perhaps followed by a definition:
Normally the server can handle a backup failure without crashing, but that was not the case today due to a perfect storm of multiple unrelated events that conspired to cause the crash.
answered 1 hour ago
Roger Sinasohn
8,45711844
Thank you Roger. I have never heard omnishambles but I love it!
– Lumberjack
4 mins ago
AND I really appreciate your suggestion at the end. Use perfect storm and add on some more clarification.
– Lumberjack
3 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
multiplicity of unrelated failures
answered 1 hour ago
CrossRoads
991
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
I believe "comedy of errors" would be understood in the way you intend. It's the title of a play by Shakespeare involving identical twins with identical servants and, well, it's Shakespeare. But, today, the phrase is sometimes used to describe a situation like yours.
answered 1 hour ago
CWill
554310
add a comment |Â
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
4 Answers
4
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
4
down vote
You might refer to the situation as a confluence of errors...
: a coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point
• a happy confluence of weather and scenery
definition from m-w.com
answered 1 hour ago
Hellion
52.1k13107194
I was thinking something similar... Due to a confluence of events--nay, a perfect storm--and subsequent conflagration of... Ha-ha, actually, I never knew a perfect storm was anything other than a storm with really big waves...at least 80 ft in hurricane country.
– KannE
48 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
4
down vote
You might refer to the situation as a confluence of errors...
: a coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point
• a happy confluence of weather and scenery
definition from m-w.com
answered 1 hour ago
Hellion
52.1k13107194
I was thinking something similar... Due to a confluence of events--nay, a perfect storm--and subsequent conflagration of... Ha-ha, actually, I never knew a perfect storm was anything other than a storm with really big waves...at least 80 ft in hurricane country.
– KannE
48 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
4
down vote
up vote
4
down vote
You might refer to the situation as a confluence of errors...
: a coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point
• a happy confluence of weather and scenery
definition from m-w.com
answered 1 hour ago
Hellion
52.1k13107194
You might refer to the situation as a confluence of errors...
: a coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point
• a happy confluence of weather and scenery
definition from m-w.com
answered 1 hour ago
Hellion
52.1k13107194
answered 1 hour ago
Hellion
52.1k13107194
answered 1 hour ago
Hellion
52.1k13107194
answered 1 hour ago
Hellion
52.1k13107194
52.1k13107194
I was thinking something similar... Due to a confluence of events--nay, a perfect storm--and subsequent conflagration of... Ha-ha, actually, I never knew a perfect storm was anything other than a storm with really big waves...at least 80 ft in hurricane country.
– KannE
48 mins ago
add a comment |Â
I was thinking something similar... Due to a confluence of events--nay, a perfect storm--and subsequent conflagration of... Ha-ha, actually, I never knew a perfect storm was anything other than a storm with really big waves...at least 80 ft in hurricane country.
– KannE
48 mins ago
I was thinking something similar... Due to a confluence of events--nay, a perfect storm--and subsequent conflagration of... Ha-ha, actually, I never knew a perfect storm was anything other than a storm with really big waves...at least 80 ft in hurricane country.
– KannE
48 mins ago
I was thinking something similar... Due to a confluence of events--nay, a perfect storm--and subsequent conflagration of... Ha-ha, actually, I never knew a perfect storm was anything other than a storm with really big waves...at least 80 ft in hurricane country.
– KannE
48 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
None of these words have exactly the same meaning as perfect storm, but they might suffice. Debacle and fiasco both mean a complete (and humiliating) failure:
debacle
NOUN
A sudden and ignominious failure; a fiasco.
‘the only man to reach double figures in the second-innings debacle’
(from the Oxford Living Dictionaries)
fiasco
NOUN
A complete failure, especially a ludicrous or humiliating one.
‘his plans turned into a fiasco’
Unless your boss is British, he likely won't understand the word omnishambles and it doesn't really fit, but I just discovered it and quite like it:
omnishambles
NOUN
British
informal
A situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations.
‘anyone with five minutes to spare, a Maths GCSE, and a calculator could have averted the entire omnishambles by checking the civil servants' sums’
If you want to stress that the issue was caused by a combination of events out of your control (as in, it wasn't your fault), your best bet is probably perfect storm, perhaps followed by a definition:
Normally the server can handle a backup failure without crashing, but that was not the case today due to a perfect storm of multiple unrelated events that conspired to cause the crash.
answered 1 hour ago
Roger Sinasohn
8,45711844
Thank you Roger. I have never heard omnishambles but I love it!
– Lumberjack
4 mins ago
AND I really appreciate your suggestion at the end. Use perfect storm and add on some more clarification.
– Lumberjack
3 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
None of these words have exactly the same meaning as perfect storm, but they might suffice. Debacle and fiasco both mean a complete (and humiliating) failure:
debacle
NOUN
A sudden and ignominious failure; a fiasco.
‘the only man to reach double figures in the second-innings debacle’
(from the Oxford Living Dictionaries)
fiasco
NOUN
A complete failure, especially a ludicrous or humiliating one.
‘his plans turned into a fiasco’
Unless your boss is British, he likely won't understand the word omnishambles and it doesn't really fit, but I just discovered it and quite like it:
omnishambles
NOUN
British
informal
A situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations.
‘anyone with five minutes to spare, a Maths GCSE, and a calculator could have averted the entire omnishambles by checking the civil servants' sums’
If you want to stress that the issue was caused by a combination of events out of your control (as in, it wasn't your fault), your best bet is probably perfect storm, perhaps followed by a definition:
Normally the server can handle a backup failure without crashing, but that was not the case today due to a perfect storm of multiple unrelated events that conspired to cause the crash.
answered 1 hour ago
Roger Sinasohn
8,45711844
Thank you Roger. I have never heard omnishambles but I love it!
– Lumberjack
4 mins ago
AND I really appreciate your suggestion at the end. Use perfect storm and add on some more clarification.
– Lumberjack
3 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
None of these words have exactly the same meaning as perfect storm, but they might suffice. Debacle and fiasco both mean a complete (and humiliating) failure:
debacle
NOUN
A sudden and ignominious failure; a fiasco.
‘the only man to reach double figures in the second-innings debacle’
(from the Oxford Living Dictionaries)
fiasco
NOUN
A complete failure, especially a ludicrous or humiliating one.
‘his plans turned into a fiasco’
Unless your boss is British, he likely won't understand the word omnishambles and it doesn't really fit, but I just discovered it and quite like it:
omnishambles
NOUN
British
informal
A situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations.
‘anyone with five minutes to spare, a Maths GCSE, and a calculator could have averted the entire omnishambles by checking the civil servants' sums’
If you want to stress that the issue was caused by a combination of events out of your control (as in, it wasn't your fault), your best bet is probably perfect storm, perhaps followed by a definition:
Normally the server can handle a backup failure without crashing, but that was not the case today due to a perfect storm of multiple unrelated events that conspired to cause the crash.
answered 1 hour ago
Roger Sinasohn
8,45711844
None of these words have exactly the same meaning as perfect storm, but they might suffice. Debacle and fiasco both mean a complete (and humiliating) failure:
debacle
NOUN
A sudden and ignominious failure; a fiasco.
‘the only man to reach double figures in the second-innings debacle’
(from the Oxford Living Dictionaries)
fiasco
NOUN
A complete failure, especially a ludicrous or humiliating one.
‘his plans turned into a fiasco’
Unless your boss is British, he likely won't understand the word omnishambles and it doesn't really fit, but I just discovered it and quite like it:
omnishambles
NOUN
British
informal
A situation that has been comprehensively mismanaged, characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations.
‘anyone with five minutes to spare, a Maths GCSE, and a calculator could have averted the entire omnishambles by checking the civil servants' sums’
If you want to stress that the issue was caused by a combination of events out of your control (as in, it wasn't your fault), your best bet is probably perfect storm, perhaps followed by a definition:
Normally the server can handle a backup failure without crashing, but that was not the case today due to a perfect storm of multiple unrelated events that conspired to cause the crash.
answered 1 hour ago
Roger Sinasohn
8,45711844
answered 1 hour ago
Roger Sinasohn
8,45711844
answered 1 hour ago
Roger Sinasohn
8,45711844
answered 1 hour ago
Roger Sinasohn
8,45711844
8,45711844
Thank you Roger. I have never heard omnishambles but I love it!
– Lumberjack
4 mins ago
AND I really appreciate your suggestion at the end. Use perfect storm and add on some more clarification.
– Lumberjack
3 mins ago
add a comment |Â
Thank you Roger. I have never heard omnishambles but I love it!
– Lumberjack
4 mins ago
AND I really appreciate your suggestion at the end. Use perfect storm and add on some more clarification.
– Lumberjack
3 mins ago
Thank you Roger. I have never heard omnishambles but I love it!
– Lumberjack
4 mins ago
Thank you Roger. I have never heard omnishambles but I love it!
– Lumberjack
4 mins ago
AND I really appreciate your suggestion at the end. Use perfect storm and add on some more clarification.
– Lumberjack
3 mins ago
AND I really appreciate your suggestion at the end. Use perfect storm and add on some more clarification.
– Lumberjack
3 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
multiplicity of unrelated failures
answered 1 hour ago
CrossRoads
991
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
multiplicity of unrelated failures
answered 1 hour ago
CrossRoads
991
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
multiplicity of unrelated failures
answered 1 hour ago
CrossRoads
991
multiplicity of unrelated failures
answered 1 hour ago
CrossRoads
991
answered 1 hour ago
CrossRoads
991
answered 1 hour ago
CrossRoads
991
answered 1 hour ago
CrossRoads
991
991
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
I believe "comedy of errors" would be understood in the way you intend. It's the title of a play by Shakespeare involving identical twins with identical servants and, well, it's Shakespeare. But, today, the phrase is sometimes used to describe a situation like yours.
answered 1 hour ago
CWill
554310
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
I believe "comedy of errors" would be understood in the way you intend. It's the title of a play by Shakespeare involving identical twins with identical servants and, well, it's Shakespeare. But, today, the phrase is sometimes used to describe a situation like yours.
answered 1 hour ago
CWill
554310
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
I believe "comedy of errors" would be understood in the way you intend. It's the title of a play by Shakespeare involving identical twins with identical servants and, well, it's Shakespeare. But, today, the phrase is sometimes used to describe a situation like yours.
answered 1 hour ago
CWill
554310
I believe "comedy of errors" would be understood in the way you intend. It's the title of a play by Shakespeare involving identical twins with identical servants and, well, it's Shakespeare. But, today, the phrase is sometimes used to describe a situation like yours.
answered 1 hour ago
CWill
554310
answered 1 hour ago
CWill
554310
answered 1 hour ago
CWill
554310
answered 1 hour ago
CWill
554310
554310
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
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I think "perfect storm" would actually be understood.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
@Barmar I must respectfully disagree. My boss doesn't get out much and doesn't watch many movies. The one time I did use the phrase in his presence he looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
– Lumberjack
1 hour ago
You don't have to watch movies. It's a common metaphor, although it did become more well known after the movie.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
Then say coincidence, like you said in the question.
– Barmar
1 hour ago
@Barmar Thank you for your reassurances. I appreciate the kindness and the spirit your comments stem from, but I really would like to find a synonym if there is one out there.
– Lumberjack
1 hour ago