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Murphy's Law People Wrong He'll Eslpod 0019 Cn Eslpod Tough

Id ESLPod_0019_CN
Episode Id ESLPod 19
Episode Title Tough Negotiations
Title Murphy's Law
Text

Murphy's law is not really a law or a scientific theory. It is an old "adage" (saying) that says: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." It's not clear who "came up with" (started using) the term Murphy's law. Some people claim that it was an "engineer" (a person whose job is to design and build machines and other things), while others say it was a scientist.

Regardless of who came up with Murphy's law, Americans mention it all the time. Here's is a typical "exchange" (conversation):

A: "I can't believe it! This is the third time this month the tire on my bicycle has gone "flat" (with no air in it)."

B: "Murphy's law. I'd walk from now on, if I were you."

People don't usually say, "It's Murphy's law" or "Murphy's law is at work here." They often simply say "Murphy's law" and the other person knows what they mean: if something hasn't gone wrong yet, then at sometime in the future it will. It's "inevitable" (it will happen and it cannot be changed).

Although the original Murphy's law is simple - "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" - people have come up with "variations" (different forms) of this saying, often to be funny. Here are few:

- If anything "simply" (absolutely) cannot go wrong, it will anyway.

- The buddy system is essential to your survival; it gives the enemy somebody else to shoot at.

("buddy system" - often used at school, in which a person chooses or is "assigned" (given) a partner, and the two people do school tasks together and take care of each other)

- Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.

("dominated" - with the most control or influence over something)

- Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch it to be sure.

Topics Business

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