FAIL

For old geezers who don't know the modern meaning of "fail," there's a website with thousands of examples. You'll notice it's never used as part of a sentence: "fail" encapsulates a situation. Who needs verbs when one word can do that?

I always thought "fail" was kinda harsh. It's anti-sarcasm that shuts down communication. Walking down the road, you trip. "Smooth," your friend says, meaning the opposite. "Fail," he could've said, labelling you just as thoroughly.

But then I was playing Chinese checkers with my cousins, and now I understand: