翻车

• Pinyin: fān chē
• Hanzi breakdown: 翻 (overturn) + 车 (vehicle) -> a plan or image overturns in public.

Meaning

To fail publicly or have something go wrong after it seemed fine. It often describes a person, product, plan, or performance collapsing in view of others.

翻车 is casual and commonly used online when someone is exposed, embarrassed, or caught in a mistake. It can be humorous, critical, or serious depending on the scale of the failure.

Examples

1. 这次直播突然翻车，评论区全在笑。 This livestream suddenly 翻车, and the comments are full of people laughing.
2. 他刚夸完自己，下一秒就翻车了。 He had just finished praising himself, and the next second he 翻车ed.
3. 这个新品宣传很猛，结果上线翻车。 The promotion for this new product was hyped up big time, but it 翻车ed as soon as it went live.

Usage Guide

Context: friends, social media, entertainment

Tone: mocking, critical, amused

Do Say

• 这次活动安排太乱，差点翻车。（The event was so disorganized it almost failed publicly.）
• 别把话说太满，小心翻车。（Do not overpromise; you may embarrass yourself.）

Don't Say

• 在严肃事故通报里用翻车开玩笑。（Do not joke with it in serious accident reports.）

Common Mistakes

• Using it only for literal car accidents; slang use usually means public failure.

Origin & History

Originally means a vehicle overturning; online usage extends the image to public failure or loss of control.

Cultural Context

Era: 2010s onward

Generation: Millennials and Gen Z, now mainstream online

Social background: Urban internet users and entertainment audiences

Regional notes: Widely used across Mainland Chinese social media.