wardrobe malfunction

English

Etymology

An Americanism, coined by singer Justin Timberlake in 2004 to describe the incident during Super Bowl XXXVIII in which Janet Jackson's right breast was bared.

Noun

wardrobe malfunction (plural wardrobe malfunctions)

1. (euphemistic) An accidental instance of indecent exposure caused by a fault in someone's clothing (especially that of a performer) or by an error made while changing clothes.
   • 2007 September 4, Kathleen McElroy, “But Wait! Djokovic Is Still Playing”, in New York Times Straight Sets‎^[1], retrieved 2021-04-17:

     Monaco, a 23-year-old Argentinian seeded No. 23, survived the most unlikely wardrobe malfunction to save a match point and win a third-set tiebreaker, 8-6.

Usage notes

• The regions of the body within the scope of such a "malfunction" usually refers to erogenous regions of the body. Sometimes more specific terms are used, such as nip slip.

Derived terms

• wardrobe malfunctioner

 

Translations

(euphemism) an accidental instance of indecent exposure

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 衣櫥故障／衣橱故障 (yīchúgùzhàng), 不小心走光 (bù xiǎoxīn zǒuguāng)

• Danish: funktionsfejl i garderoben
• Dutch: garderobedefect
• Estonian: talitlushäire garderoob
• Finnish: vaatemoka
• French: incident de garde-robe m, défaut de fonctionnement de garde-robe m
• German: Garderobenstörung f (literal)
• Greek: δυσλειτουργία ντουλαπών (dysleitourgía ntoulapón)
• Italian: disfunzione del guardaroba f, incidente del guardaroba m
• Japanese: ワードローブの機能不全 (wādorōbu no kinōfuzen)
• Korean: 옷장 기능상실 (otjang gineungsangsil)
• Latin: malfunctiōnamentum vestimentārium (liternal), incidentum vestimentārium (traditional)
• Norwegian: funksjonsfeil garderobe
• Portuguese: disfunção de guarda-roupa f
• Russian: неисправность одежды (neispravnostʹ odeždy)
• Spanish: malfuncionamiento del guardarropa m, error de induntemaria m
• Swedish: fel på garderoben
• Turkish: frikik (tr)

See also

• Nipplegate