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Murphy's/Sod's Law

Posted by RRC on April 17, 2008 at 20:01:

In Reply to: Murphy's/Sod's Law posted by Howard on April 17, 2008 at 19:29:

: When things that could go wrong do go wrong it's referred to as "Murphy's Law" here in Canada. In the U.K. it becomes "Sod's Law". So the question is: How did this assignation to messrs. Murphy and Sod come about? Who were the Murphy and Sod in question? And is this law attributed to someone else's name(s) elsewhere in the world?

You can read the full history of Murphy's Law here en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Murphy%27s_law#Association_with_Murphy . According to that article, Sod's Law is more closely associated with Finagle's Law (ML = anything that can go wrong, will - FL = anything that can go wrong, will and at the worst possible moment). Finagle's law is traced back to Astounding Science Fiction editor John W Campbell, Jr. There is no real person. I'm guessing that the Sod in Sod's Law is just some poor sod, but sod it if I know for sure.

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