"Sod's law" meaning in All languages combined

See Sod's law on Wiktionary

Proper name [English]

IPA: /sɒdz lɔ/ Audio: En-au-Sod's law.ogg [Australia]
Etymology: Perhaps from unlucky sod. Etymology templates: {{m|en|unlucky sod}} unlucky sod Head templates: {{en-proper noun|head=Sod's law}} Sod's law
  1. (chiefly UK) The principle that what can go wrong, will go wrong, usually with some observed degree of irony Tags: UK Synonyms: Murphy's law, Finagle's law Translations (rule — see also Murphy's law): zákon schválnosti [masculine] (Czech), loi de l’emmerdement maximum [feminine] (French), зако́н подлости (zakón podlosti) (Russian)

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for Sod's law meaning in All languages combined (2.7kB)

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  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "unlucky sod"
      },
      "expansion": "unlucky sod",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Perhaps from unlucky sod.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "head": "Sod's law"
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      "expansion": "Sod's law",
      "name": "en-proper noun"
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It's Sod's law that it will rain when going for a picnic.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Allen Carr, The Easy Way to Enjoy Flying, Penguin UK",
          "text": "It was amazing and typical of Sod's Law, the moment I turned for home, the wind direction would not only change, but be the complete reverse.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The principle that what can go wrong, will go wrong, usually with some observed degree of irony"
      ],
      "id": "en-Sod's_law-en-name-rrSbWY4l",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly UK) The principle that what can go wrong, will go wrong, usually with some observed degree of irony"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "Murphy's law"
        },
        {
          "word": "Finagle's law"
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "rule — see also Murphy's law",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "zákon schválnosti"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "rule — see also Murphy's law",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "loi de l’emmerdement maximum"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "zakón podlosti",
          "sense": "rule — see also Murphy's law",
          "word": "зако́н подлости"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "note": "ley de la indefectible mala voluntad de los objectos inanimados",
          "sense": "rule — see also Murphy's law",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ]
        }
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      "ipa": "/sɒdz lɔ/"
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      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/En-au-Sod%27s_law.ogg/En-au-Sod%27s_law.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/En-au-Sod%27s_law.ogg",
      "tags": [
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      "text": "Audio (AU)"
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  ],
  "word": "Sod's law"
}
{
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "Perhaps from unlucky sod.",
  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "Sod's law",
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  ],
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  "lang_code": "en",
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        "English adages ending in \"law\"",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
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        "English proper nouns",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English uncountable nouns"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "It's Sod's law that it will rain when going for a picnic.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Allen Carr, The Easy Way to Enjoy Flying, Penguin UK",
          "text": "It was amazing and typical of Sod's Law, the moment I turned for home, the wind direction would not only change, but be the complete reverse.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The principle that what can go wrong, will go wrong, usually with some observed degree of irony"
      ],
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        "(chiefly UK) The principle that what can go wrong, will go wrong, usually with some observed degree of irony"
      ],
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          "word": "Murphy's law"
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        {
          "word": "Finagle's law"
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      "tags": [
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      "ipa": "/sɒdz lɔ/"
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      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/En-au-Sod%27s_law.ogg/En-au-Sod%27s_law.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/En-au-Sod%27s_law.ogg",
      "tags": [
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  ],
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    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "rule — see also Murphy's law",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "zákon schválnosti"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "rule — see also Murphy's law",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "loi de l’emmerdement maximum"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "zakón podlosti",
      "sense": "rule — see also Murphy's law",
      "word": "зако́н подлости"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "note": "ley de la indefectible mala voluntad de los objectos inanimados",
      "sense": "rule — see also Murphy's law",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Sod's law"
}
{
  "called_from": "translations/609-20230504",
  "msg": "Translation too long compared to word, so it is skipped",
  "path": [
    "Sod's law"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "proper noun",
  "title": "Sod's law",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-12 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (ae36afe and 304864d). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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