What could go wrong. Almost always used sarcastically, as the caption on a video or photo where the answer is obviously "everything". Reddit's r/Whatcouldgowrong is a long-running community devoted to clips of plans that immediately, predictably, fail.
climbing a wet roof in flip-flops to fix the satellite dish — WCGW
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Viral internet speak — memes, ratios, main-character moments, and the algospeak of every platform from Twitter to Reddit to TikTok comment sections.
See all Internet & Memes slang on Slangora.
Browse all slang words starting with W.
(internet slang) : a sarcastic response to a bad idea that would lead to obvious problems.
A W fail is a win that somehow still manages to go wrong in delivery, execution, or aftermath — a victory so poorly handled it partially negates itself. You got the promotion but immediately alienated your whole team in the announcement. You won the argument but lost the friendship. The result was technically correct but the process was a disaster. W fail captures the frustrating comedy of snatching partial defeat from the jaws of total victory. It's used self-deprecatingly and in commentary on others' bittersweet successes where the L crept in through the back door.
(Internet slang, Twitch-speak) A Twitch community characterized by chatters reacting to events using W and L in text, instead of using traditional (or custom, browser-extension-provided) emotes. Associated with relatively more mainstreamized, hip, recent-influx Internet culture and black culture, in contrast to the poggers community which is associated with more traditional gaming culture and nicher, shibbolethic image reaction-based humor.
An expression of comradery.