a flash in the pan

[drsiebenmal]

An effort or person that promises great success but fails. For example, His second novel proved to be a flash in the pan, or We had high hopes for the new director, but she was a flash in the pan. This metaphoric term alludes to the 17th-century flintlock musket, which could be fired only when the flash of the priming powder in the lockpan ignited the charge in the bore. When it failed to ignite, there was only a flash in the pan and the gun did not shoot (από το Answers.com).

Μερικές ιδέες στα γρήγορα είναι:

• πολύ κακό για το τίποτε --αλλά αυτό δεν είναι το much ado about nothing;
  [*]κάτι βγήκε τζούφιο
  [*]όλο λάδι και από τηγανίτα τίποτα

Υποθέτω ότι θα προσθέσετε κι άλλες αποδόσεις, αλλά με ενδιαφέρει κυρίως κάποια ιδέα που να μπορώ να την συνδέσω με την πολεμική προέλευση της αγγλικής παροιμίας.

 

[Palavra]

Θα μπορούσες ίσως κάπου να πεις άσφαιρα;

 

[nickel]

Πυροτέχνημα;

 

[sarant]

Χωρίς στρατιωτικό, άνθρακες ο θησαυρός.

Καλό το πυροτέχνημα.

 

[drsiebenmal]

Άπειρος ο εμπυρέας; Απελπισμένος ο μεταφραστής; :)

 

[Leximaniac]

...άνθρακες ο θησαυρός...

Συμφωνώ με αυτό, αν και δεν έχει σχέση με πολεμικά/στρατιωτικά. Είναι η έκφραση που μου ήρθε στο μυαλό αλλά με πρόλαβε ο sarant.

 

[FunkSoulBrother]

Ήξερα μια άλλη προέλευση γι' αυτή τη φράση, που ίσως όμως συνδέεται:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/flash-in-the-pan.html

Something which disappoints by failing to deliver anything of value, despite a showy beginning.

Origin
There's reason to believe that this phrase derives from the Californian Gold Rush of the mid 19th century. Prospectors who panned for gold supposedly became excited when they saw something glint in the pan, only to have their hopes dashed when it proved not to be gold but a mere 'flash in the pan'. This is an attractive and plausible notion, in part because it ties in with another phrase related to disappointment - 'it didn't pan out'. 'Panning out' can be traced to US prospectors and was used in that context by the early 20th century. For example, Paul Haworth's Trailmakers of the Northwest, 1921:

"The Colonel had told them that a cubic foot of gravel would pan out twenty dollars in gold."

Νevertheless, gold prospecting isn't the origin of 'a flash in the pan'. The phrase did have a literal meaning, i.e. it derives from a real flash in a real pan, but not a prospector's pan. Flintlock muskets used to have small pans to hold charges of gunpowder. An attempt to fire the musket in which the gunpowder flared up without a bullet being fired was a 'flash in the pan'.

The term has been known since the late 17th century. Elkanah Settle, in Reflections on several of Mr. Dryden's plays 1687, had this to say:

"If Cannons were so well bred in his Metaphor as only to flash in the Pan, I dare lay an even wager that Mr. Dryden durst venture to Sea."

Θα έλεγα, "Άνθρακες ο θησαυρός".

[Βλέπω με πρόλαβαν sarant και Leximania

 

[Palavra]

Μην ανησυχείτε για τα εύρετρα, οι ομοβροντίες είναι συχνό φαινόμενο σε αυτό το φόρουμ

 

[drsiebenmal]

Ήξερα μια άλλη προέλευση γι' αυτή τη φράση

Μα δεν είναι άλλη προέλευση.. ;) Και στο απόσπασμα που δίνεις λέει:

Νevertheless, gold prospecting isn't the origin of 'a flash in the pan'. The phrase did have a literal meaning, i.e. it derives from a real flash in a real pan, but not a prospector's pan. Flintlock muskets used to have small pans to hold charges of gunpowder. An attempt to fire the musket in which the gunpowder flared up without a bullet being fired was a 'flash in the pan'.​

Αν βρισκαμε τώρα και κάτι με αφλογιστία... :)

 

[Earion]

Καμιά φορά και οι σφαίρες βγαίνουν τζούφιες.