a brief, intense effort that produces negligible results. This term comes from the seventeenth century, when the pan of a musket was where one put the powder that was ignited by the sparks from the flint. If it ignited properly, the sparks would set off the charge in the gun, and this charge would propel the ball (and later, the bullet) out of the barrel. Occasionally, the priming powder in the pan would burn without igniting the maincharge, and the gun would misfire. The burn was visible but to no effect, just as a flash in the pan is successful but shines only for a brief time. —3rd South African unpublished Appr GLS (19.3.92)