black swan event
1
8.5
- noun
- /blæk swɑn ɪˈvɛnt/
:
evento cisne negro
- The pandemic was a true black swan event, radically altering global economies and daily life.
That a system has become more prone to Black Swan events.
- That a system has become more prone to Black Swan events.
- However, there are always these Black Swan events.
- The biggest threat to Bitcoin, in my humble opinion is just Black Swan events.
- We think of Black Swan events as unpredictable, something that just hits out of the blue from from and totally unexpectedly.
- Today we're going to talk about Jeremy Hunt and his Black Swan events.
- That could be really bad because it could reiterate that Black Swan event.
- But like, is it any sort of rational Black Swan event fear or is it more of just like an emotional feeling?
Examples
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This might be considered a black swan event because, while they had planned for a major earthquake, tsunami, power disruption, various failure conditions, and safe shutdown operations,
Blog text (20) -
We think of Black Swan events as unpredictable, something that just hits out of the blue from from and totally unexpectedly.
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As you have frequently pointed out, the world can be unpredictable, and even our best models have the built-in failure to account for black swan events.
Blog text (17) -
What if a default in zero-risk securities (e.g., US Treasury bonds) is a black swan event?
Blog text (31) -
Experts believe that the financial crisis of 2008 was a black swan event that no one saw coming.
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Natural disasters, like unexpected hurricanes or earthquakes, can be classified as black swan events due to their severe consequences.
Synonyms
1
8.6
An unexpected event that has very large and often harmful effects
How Unexpected
1
8.5
738
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'an unpredictable event with extreme consequences' is not derivable from the literal constituents 'black' (a color), 'swan' (a bird) and 'event' (an occurrence); understanding it requires cultural/theoretical background (the Taleb metaphor) rather than simple composition. While some speakers may recognize the metaphor, an average B1 learner who knows the words but has not encountered the concept will not predict this idiomatic meaning, so it is best treated as opaque.
Etymology
Black swan event may come from a time when people believed all swans were white until travelers found a real black swan in Australia, an unexpected sight. So a black swan event now means a very 'unexpected' happening that has very large effects.