Meaning
A chain of consequences in which one event triggers the next, each falling like a tile in a set-up row of dominoes - used for collapsing alliances, spreading defaults, cascading resignations, or any sequence where the first small failure carries the rest with it. Neutral in physics and economics, weightier in politics, where domino theory carries the Cold War's baggage; logicians add that the metaphor can hide a slippery-slope fallacy. Regional use: General English; American political origin.
Origin
The image is literal - toppling dominoes - but its political fame dates from the Cold War. Harry Truman first argued the underlying theory in the 1940s to justify aid to Greece and Turkey, but it was Dwight Eisenhower who gave it the picture, at his news conference of 7 April 1954 on Indochina: invoking what he called the 'falling domino' principle, he said, 'You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one' - it will go over very quickly. Successive administrations ran the image through Vietnam and Central America, and it long ago escaped geopolitics: the Wikipedia record traces it to democratic-domino theories after 2003 and to colour-revolution arguments, while Wiktionary keeps the plain sense of one event setting off a chain, with butterfly effect, ripple effect, snowball effect, and slippery slope as its relatives.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- domino effects
- domino theory
- knock-on effect
Usage Examples
- The default of one small lender set off a domino effect that reached the insurance market within a week.
- Economists warned of a domino effect if the currency peg broke: imports, then wages, then mortgages.
- Three ministers resigned in a domino effect that began with one misfiled expense claim.