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“Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

Most people call that saying “Murphy’s Law” which is named after aerospace engineer Edward A. Murphy, Jr. But although the phrase has been attributed to him back in the 1940s, the sentiment has been around a lot longer than that.

(And one of Wikipedia’s sources says that Murphy’s original statement was actually “If there are two or more ways to do something and one of those results in a catastrophe, then someone will do it that way.”)

Regardless, I think we all have days when it feels like the universe is trying to unequivocally prove that Murphy’s Law is true. Anything and everything really does go wrong, increasing your frustration and testing the limits of your patience.

But sometimes I’ve noticed that it makes most people feel a bit better if they take a moment to complain about the situation. Just let it all out before you tackle the next obstacle headed your way.

So if you’re looking for different and new ways to express that frustration, you’re in luck! I recently stumbled across not one but two separate Merriam-Webster articles featuring words and phrases you can use to describe when things go wrong. Here are a few of the most useful or most interesting ones:

Haywire – “being out of order or having gone wrong” or “emotionally or mentally upset or out of control”

The dictionary says this word originated with a more literal definition: it was simply what you called the wire used to bale hay. And it allegedly had a reputation for being “difficult to manage.” So it’s not hard to imagine people started using the description metaphorically to talk about situations that were out of control. Twentieth century authors like William Faulkner also helped popularize the metaphorical meaning of the word too.

And now people who have never even seen a bale of hay in person regularly use the word “haywire.”

Wonky – “preoccupied with the arcane details or procedures within a field” or “a description of things that don’t hold together as well as they should”

The second definition is the one most of us are probably more familiar with. It apparently was first used by the British as an alternative version of the word “wankle.”

Personally, I think it’s a fun word to say, but only as long as I’m using it to describe something like “that furniture looks a little wonky with the décor in that room” and not something like “my arm feels a bit wonky today.”

On the fritz – “a state of disorder or disrepair”

Here’s one I use quite frequently! I’m always complaining about some sort of electronic device not working right because it’s “on the fritz.” (Why does it seem like technology does this all the time?)

The dictionary, however, doesn’t have an origin for this phrase. No one’s quite sure how it got started. But there’s some speculation that “fritz” might be describing the sound you hear when an electric connection short-circuits. Makes sense to me!

Kaput – “utterly finished, defeated, or destroyed” or “unable to function”

This is a good word to use when something on the fritz has finally given up on functioning. It’s done. It’s finished. It’s kaput!

I was surprised to learn that this word actually originated as a term from a French card game named piquet. A winning hand was called “faire capot” and a losing hand was “etre caput.” Over time, the word was picked up by German speakers and then by English speakers. By that point, the spelling had changed to “kaput” and it had picked up the meaning we use today.

Putid – “rotten, worthless”

A perfect word to describe an awful situation. This word has been around a while – the dictionary’s example quote comes from a writer in 1646, after all – which makes sense because it originally comes from the Latin word “putere” which means “to stink, be rotten.”

Maleficent – “productive of harm or evil”

Before this word was the name of a Disney villain, it was simply an adjective to describe something evil. It’s first known use was back in 1678 and it also has Latin origins (from “malus” which means “bad.”)

Nefandous – “unfit to be spoken of”

A word to use when things are so bad you don’t even want to talk about it!

Once again, this is another word of Latin origin. It combines “ne” (meaning “not”) and “fari” (meaning “to speak”). So the next time someone asks you about something that you don’t want to mention, just say “it’s too nefandous to talk about right now.”

This adds an air of mystery to the problem, which makes it seem more exciting than reality.

The next time Murphy’s Law comes knocking at your door, well… you’ll just have to grit your teeth and get through it. When things go wrong, often times you just have to wait it out.

But at least now you’ll have more ways to complain about it along the way!

 Holly Taylor is a staff writer for Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact her at holly.taylor@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7206.