"Epic fail" vs "Epic failure"

[SuperMillionaire]

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/t.../epic_win.html

In internet slang, a "fail" is basically a mistake or something gone wrong, and an "epic fail" is a extremely bad mistake, or something gone extremely horribly wrong. In proper English, the word is used in a grammatically incorrect manner; "to fail" is a verb, but it is used as a noun, even though the grammatically correct word would be "failure."

While the use of the term "epic fail" is more common, I've noticed some people, less commonly, use the grammatically correct term "epic failure." Keep in mind that between the two, the latter was used first; references to the meme date as far back as 2003, but it was not until the end of the 2000s and the beginning of the 2010s when it became prominent. Initially, the words "fail" and "failure" were still used in the grammatically correct manner, and gave rise to the term "epic failure," which later evolved into the grammatically incorrect "epic fail."

Also in internet slang, the opposite of "fail" is "win," though in grammatically correct English, "fail" and "win" are not antonyms (the official term for opposite words); the opposite of "fail" would be "pass," and the opposite of "win" would be "loss" or "lose."

Thus, the usage of the word "fail" in internet slang is a grammatical "failure" in itself.

Which word do you use? "Fail" or "Failure?"

[Agent Proto]

Your failure to see the irony in epic fail amuses me.

[noxious.sunshine]

Your failure to see the irony in epic fail amuses me.

[Shorty]

I get the internet slang/irony (or whatever you want to call it) with "epic fail", but I'd still prefer "epic failure".

But I don't use either of these because it's not 2004 anymore.

[Psychotic]

But I don't use either of these because it's not 2004 anymore.

I don't use either of these because I'm not a twat. Moar lulz plox.

[Bubba]

Neither.

I would either use "your attempt at completing said task was largely unsuccessful" or... "you royally smurfed up there"

[Pumpkin]

I just say "You fail at life." But not often.

[sharkythesharkdogg]

I usually say "Ouch.", but my perspective is from the other side of things.

[Ayen]

But I don't use either of these because it's not 2004 anymore.

Just because you can't time travel doesn't mean you have to ruin things for the rest of us.

[Quindiana Jones]

I use "Nice one, Dave."

[Shorty]

But I don't use either of these because it's not 2004 anymore.

Just because you can't time travel doesn't mean you have to ruin things for the rest of us.

Am I ruining it for the rest of you? Good.

[Dr Unne]

I say "fail" IRL. I also say "IRL" IRL. I hope it pains people to hear. Your tears are delicious.

[Jiro]

IRL is a pointless term that undermines the importance of our ever increasingly online interactions. Therefore, meatspace.

Epic Fail has become itself a singular noun. Even though it is not grammatically correct using standardised English, it is an example of the evolution of language. In cases like this, I am content with the term, as the intent is still obvious and is not its own antonym.

[krissy]

the last internet slang i used in real life was yoop
i learned my lesson then

[SuperMillionaire]

What does IRL stand for?

And "epic failure" is a noun; I forgot to add that as a verb, in grammatically correct English, you would say "to epically fail." Usage of "epic failure" also dates back even before the words "fail" and "epic fail" became internet memes.