“Double whammy” is an idiom that describes a situation where two bad things happen to someone in close succession. It originated from the slang word “whammy,” meaning a curse or hex. The phrase can be used for comedic effect, but also in serious situations where trouble seems to pile up.
“Double whammy” is an English idiom that refers to a situation where a disease occurs in close succession to an existing one. It can be used in the case of one person or a group of people who have two problems to solve at the same time. In other situations, “double whammy” can be used when it seems that a bad thing happens to someone soon after another bad luck occurs. The origins of the phrase come from the fact that the word “whammy” is often used to describe a curse or hex.
Idioms are occasionally used by people when they want to use colorful language and colloquialisms to describe a common occurrence in daily life. These idioms usually take on different meanings from their original intents or even the literal definitions of the words included. Popular usage in the culture gives them new meanings, and many of these idioms are used to describe situations involving bad luck. One such idiom is “double whammy,” a phrase that dates back to the early part of the 20th century.
This particular idiom gets its meaning from the colloquial definition of the slang word “whammy,” which can be found in descriptions by American sportswriters in the 1930s and 1940s. When someone has the “evil” put upon them, it means that they have stumbled upon some sudden misfortune. Consequently, double luck must mean that someone has received a “double whammy.”
People often use this phrase when a couple of bad things happen to a person at the same time. Because the phrase is sometimes used for comedic effect, the mean things calling for it to be used are often not overly serious. If the bad things that happen are serious and the phrase is used, it means the speaker is engaging in some dark humor. For example, someone might say, “First my house burned down and then my wife left me; that’s what I would call a double whammy.”
The phrase has expanded from that original definition which had to do with bad luck to now include any situation where trouble seems to suddenly pile up. For example, a student might say, “I have a big final exam coming up and now I also have a term paper due, so the professors have really hit me with a double whammy.” In this case, luck isn’t really involved, but two problems that need to be overcome popped up at about the same time.
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