trip-up
noun
Trip-up — a small but visible stumble in speech, performance, or plan
Definition
An unintentional but embarrassing blunder; "he recited the whole poem without a single trip"; "he arranged his robes to avoid a trip-up later"; "confusion caused his unfortunate misstep"
In depth
A trip-up, like trip, names an unintentional but embarrassing blunder, the slightly fuller phrase emphasizing the moment of stumbling itself, the brief loss of control that interrupts an otherwise smooth performance or sequence. The word can also describe a deliberate attempt to cause someone else to stumble or fail, whether literally or figuratively.
Origin
The phrase combines 'trip,' from Old French triper, with 'up,' an intensifying particle. Its dual function, naming both an accidental stumble and a deliberate tactic to cause one in someone else, reflects a natural linguistic extension from physical to strategic and rhetorical context, the literal stumble becoming a metaphor for any engineered failure.
Usage examples
"He recited the whole poem without a single trip-up, every line landing exactly as rehearsed."
"The lawyer's cross-examination was designed specifically to trip up the witness into an inconsistent statement."
"Her only trip-up during the marathon interview came when asked an entirely unexpected personal question."
How to use it
Trip-up works naturally both as a noun describing the momentary stumble itself and, in verb form, to describe the deliberate causing of someone else's failure or confusion, a distinction writers should clarify through surrounding context.
Related concepts
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