Rate this phrase:0.0 / 0 votes

Flash in the Pan

Something or someone getting success for a brief time, a person failed to maintain his earlier reputation

Etymology:

  • This expression originated from a flintlock musket gun which was quite popular in 17th century. On pulling the trigger of the gun, a spark was produced which was thought to explode gun powder in a small pan and eventually causing main explosion. But it happened sometimes that only a flash was observed in the pan but no great bang. Today the expression is used for a person showing earlier commitment “spark” but who fails to meet his own standard “explosion”.
15 Views

Everyone thought that Samuel will be a super star, but his performance was just a flash in the pan.

Submitted on February 25, 2019

Translation

Find a translation for the Flash in the Pan phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to Flash in the Pan

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this Flash in the Pan phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this Flash in the Pan definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Flash in the Pan." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/flash-in-the-pan_44668>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    It's _________ cats and dogs out there.
    A raining
    B storming
    C snowing
    D thundering