the.com/ramification
The consequence you ignored while making the decision you're now regretting.
means A consequence or side-effect that branches out from an action or decision, often one not fully anticipated.
from From French ramification, built on Latin ramus, 'branch.' The word first described literal branching — roots, veins, forking structures — before it took on the figurative sense of consequences spreading outward from a single choice like limbs from a trunk.
- origin
- literally means branching, like a tree's limbs
- usage shift
- from botany to 'this will not end well'
- plural bias
- almost always shows up plural, rarely alone