NYT article links FAIL to Blazing Star?

[Aleksei]

Can anyone verify that this saying's origins began with Blazing Star and did shmups forum members perpetuate it into our culture?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/magaz ... .html?_r=0

[Despatche]

ny times, lol. however, people have been claiming that for a very long time, and last i checked you fail it was as big of a thing as all your base. i wouldn't be remotely surprised if fail really was a giant blazing star reference.

[chempop]

HAHAHA I knew about the engrish in blazing star, but didn’t think of it affecting this on such a large scale!
Hilarious.

[edit]
Just going to leave this here, slightly on topic (profanity ahead, likely NSFW): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WojRRJrO ... TgyCKOwalS

[Immryr]

[edit]
Just going to leave this here, slightly on topic (profanity ahead, likely NSFW): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WojRRJrO ... TgyCKOwalS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWStaRmuXzY

[Captain]

FAIL, as the internet slang, does originate from BS's YOU FAIL IT message.

However, FAIL is not a meme, it is just a phrase.

[Jeneki]

Contrary to what is posted in many places on the internet (including this article), "YOU FAIL IT" is not the game over message. It only appears when you let a boss timeout and escape.

[gray117]

I've no idea, but I seriously doubt it.

More likely this'll be the one of many google-related-it-so-it's-a-fact 'researched' myths; returning blazing star engrish article/post/comment when google was queried what 'fail' is all about... probably even with 'video games' and 'japanese translation' in the search string, because you know 'all your base...' actually had identifiable game roots.

I can't see how anyone can claim blazing star is the first recorded use of something so ubiquitous as the word in 'fail' in conjunction with a failure...

... I could buy it if people began chanting/writing 'fail it, fail it, fail it... etc.' when someone was attempting something and it just just got shortened to 'fail' and used retrospectively ... but that never happened...

... now here's an interesting question, there any claims predating ben zimmer?... p.s. Manti Teʻo...

[spadgy]

FAIL, as the internet slang, does originate from BS's YOU FAIL IT message.

However, FAIL is not a meme, it is just a phrase.

So the genre contributed all the bases and the fails? What have we helped happen?

Oh - and it's a phrase, but not an idiom (as it's a single word). But it does have a figurative meaning beyond it's core definition brought about through collective use, so it should be an idiom. Isn't that interesting?

Granted, it isn't interesting. And possibly it's incorrect. I'll just leave.

[Eaglet]

[Heavy Viper]

There was also that PC-Engine game that declared that "your mission ended in fail" on the game over screen. Can't recall the name, and the phrase isn't bringing anything up...

"What a miserable chap!!"

[Aleksei]

Spoiler

[Pretas]

There was also that PC-Engine game that declared that "your mission ended in fail" on the game over screen. Can't recall the name, and the phrase isn't bringing anything up...

"What a miserable chap!!"

You're thinking of Girly Block, an MSX game about mechas by Compile.

[Doctor Butler]

How unfortunate for us.

[ED-057]

Abort, Retry, Fail?

[To Far Away Times]

If this really did originate from Blazing Star that would be pretty great.