blue-screen-of-death
/ˌbluː skriːn əv ˈdeθ/ IELTSAcademic
noun
A blue error screen on a Windows computer that shows a serious system problem. The computer often stops working or restarts.
- I got the blue screen of death during the update.
- The laptop crashed and showed the blue screen of death.
- A blue screen of death usually means a system fault.
Adinary Nuance
Use blue-screen-of-death for a dramatic Windows crash, not for any computer problem. It is more specific than error message or system crash, because it points to one famous Windows failure screen. In casual speech, people often shorten it to BSOD.
In other languages
- Vietnamese
- màn hình xanh chết chóc
- Spanish
- pantalla azul de la muerte
- Chinese
- 蓝屏死机
- Japanese
- ブルースクリーン
- Korean
- 블루스크린
Etymology
This phrase came from Windows users in the 1990s, when serious crashes often showed a blue screen. It became a popular internet term for a computer failure.
Common phrases
get the blue screen of deathshow the blue screen of deathcause a blue screen of deatha BSOD error
Synonyms
Related words
Frequently asked questions
- Is blue-screen-of-death a formal word?
- No. It is informal and mostly used in tech talk or casual writing.
- What is the difference between blue-screen-of-death and crash?
- A crash is general. Blue-screen-of-death means a specific Windows crash screen.
- Can I use BSOD in writing?
- Yes, but only if your readers know the computer term.
- Does blue-screen-of-death always mean a bad problem?
- Usually yes. It means the computer has stopped because of a serious error.