this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2025
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" 'Waterloo' means a complete and utter defeat. The French Emperor Napoleon lost everything at the Battle of Waterloo."
"Why did he go there, if the town had such an unlucky name?"
Philomena cunk core
At least he went straight there, unlike that other French guy always taking a roundabout way of getting somewhere. You know, Monsieur Detour.
Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries.
I have to admit that that's an expression I've only heard in US circles. As an expression in England, it, well, has no meaning. We kicked some guy's arse and lost our best general.
Funnily I don't think I've heard Waterloo used that often, in French.
Berezina is more commonly heard as a "complete and utter fuck up of epic proportions". It's the most memorable defeat in the entire retreat from Russia, which itself was a complete disaster.
Waterloo was more of a swansong, since Napoléon had just come back to power after having abdicated, and he was hoping to prove he still had it. He did not.