Murphy’s Law: What It Is, Examples, and How to Use It in Everyday Life

To understand what Murphy’s Law is, imagine this situation: One morning before work, you stop by a bakery to buy a fresh croissant for breakfast. You’re standing at the register with your coveted treat, but time is running out and the line is barely moving. Frustrated, you switch to the next register, but the cashier suddenly slows down, and when it’s finally your turn, the cash register breaks. Is this just bad luck? No, you’ve simply encountered another manifestation of Murphy’s Law.

Murphy’s Law states: “If something can go wrong, it will.” This is an empirical law, tinged with dark humor, which suggests that everything will go awry at the most critical moment. But as with any joke, there’s a grain of truth in it.

An empirical law is a generalization based on practical observation. Such laws are derived from experience and don’t have formal proof.

The Origin of Murphy’s Law

The phenomenon is named after U.S. Air Force engineer Edward Murphy, who served at Edwards Air Force Base in 1949. His job was to prevent possible accidents.

During tests to determine how much acceleration the human body could withstand, engineers incorrectly connected sensors to the equipment, causing the experiment to fail. The irony was that each sensor could only be connected in two ways—right or wrong—and every single one was connected incorrectly.

Captain Murphy expressed his frustration to the technician responsible for the setup (reportedly using some colorful language). At the end of his tirade, he added, “If there’s any way to do it wrong, he will find it.” Another version of the phrase is: “If there are two ways to do something, and one of those ways will result in disaster, he’ll do it that way.”

Colonel John Stapp, who witnessed the failed test flight, appreciated the humor and later told reporters at a press conference that the safety of the test was ensured thanks to the engineering team’s awareness of Murphy’s Law.

The first mentions of this phenomenon appeared in aerospace articles in the 1950s, then seeped into pop culture, and two decades later, a book was published. Since then, the law has been supplemented with new examples from all areas of life, but the classic version remains: “If something can go wrong, it will.”

In Russia, Murphy’s Law is often called the “law of meanness” or the “buttered toast law”—referring to toast always falling butter-side down.

Why Did the Phenomenon Become So Popular?

Despite its pessimistic tone, this empirical law quickly spread and is still widely used in various forms. There are several reasons for this:

• It teaches vigilance and helps prevent possible mistakes. If you anticipate where things might go wrong when tackling an important task, you can avoid problems.
• It shifts responsibility. When something bad happens, it’s easier to believe in fate and shift the blame to forces beyond your control.
• It helps you see problems with humor. If you can laugh at a situation, failure doesn’t sting as much.

In British culture, there’s a similar concept called Sod’s Law, which predates Murphy’s Law. It states that the worst possible outcome will happen precisely when you’re least prepared for it. For example, you’ll wait the longest for a bus when you’re in a hurry, or a big discount will appear on something you just bought.

Murphy’s Laws for Every Situation

The universality of Murphy’s Law is that it applies to all areas of life. Whether you get angry at such misfortunes or laugh them off is up to you.

Murphy’s Laws and Public Transportation

• If you’re running late, the bus will move slower and stop at every light.
• If you light a cigarette or realize you can’t find your transit pass, the bus will arrive immediately.
• The last person to board and stand by the door always rides to the last stop.
• If you’re the first to arrive at the stop and wait the longest, the bus will stop too far or too close, and those who arrived after you will board first and get the seats.
• The person you sit next to will talk loudly on their phone the entire ride.
• If you arrive early, the bus will be late; if you’re late, the bus will be on time.

Murphy’s Laws at Home

• If everything is going well, you’ve missed something.
• If you lose a household item (glasses, TV remote, blender), you’ll only find it after buying a new one.
• If you throw away a store receipt, you’ll need it later.
• According to Parkinson’s Law, work expands to fill the time allotted. But Murphy’s Law says the first 90% of the work takes 90% of the time, and the last 10% takes another 90% of the time.
• The longer you tolerate bad treatment, the more of it you’ll get.

For Pet Owners

• If you dreamed of a calm, affectionate pet, your four-legged friend will be an independent troublemaker.
• If you want an energetic pet, be prepared for a lazy couch potato who sleeps all day.
• Gothic fashion lovers will inevitably fall for a snow-white pet who loves to “decorate” black clothes with fur.
• The fancier the treats in your pet’s bowl, the more interested they’ll be in inedible, harmful things—like the trash or your earplugs.
• The more expensive the special pet bed, the more likely your pet will ignore it and prefer the couch, your hoodie, or even a cardboard box.
• If you just renovated and put up stylish wallpaper, your pet will love it—especially with their sharp claws.

Murphy’s Laws in the Office

• If you’re late to work, you’ll run into your boss.
• The farther it is from Friday, the longer the workday feels.
• The closer it is to Friday evening, the higher the chance you’ll get a huge urgent task ten minutes before the end of the day.
• The printer will run out of paper or ink just when you need to print important documents for a meeting.
• The harder you worked on a report, the more likely your boss won’t read it. But if you do a sloppy job, your mistakes will definitely be noticed.
• When one coworker has an urgent, time-consuming task for you, others will too—even those who haven’t needed anything from you all year.
• Your computer will require an update on the very day you need to finish important work in the morning.
• When you urgently need to write something down, there won’t be a single working pen in reach.
• Important documents are always lying around when you don’t need them, but as soon as you do, you can’t find them.
• A flash drive never fits into the USB port on the first try—or even the second.
• If you’re reading this article at work, your boss will appear behind you and ask what you’re doing.

Why Does Murphy’s Law “Work”?

Is every situation really doomed to fail? Not exactly. The main reason Murphy’s Law seems to work is selective human memory.

Take the example of a broken-down bus on your way to work. If you get to the office for an important meeting without any issues, you probably won’t remember the commute—your mind will be focused on the meeting ahead. But if the bus breaks down at that moment, you’ll definitely remember it, and subconsciously associate the two events: the meeting and the breakdown. The fact that they happened together will seem like a pattern, making it easier to explain what happened.