houston, we have a problemとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

A misquotation of the phrases “Houston, we’ve had a problem here” and “Houston, we’ve had a problem” said by the American astronauts Jim Lovell (1928–2025) and Jack Swigert (1931–1982), who were crew members of the Apollo 13 moon flight, to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas, on April 13, 1970, after an oxygen tank triggered an explosion which led to the mission being aborted.

The phrase in the form “Houston, we have a problem” was popularized by the film Apollo 13 (1995). The American screenwriter William Broyles Jr. (born 1944) altered the original phrases as he felt that “[t]he past perfect tense wasn’t as dramatic”. However, the phrase has been used earlier, for example, as the title of a 1974 television movie about the Apollo 13 mission.

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈh(j)uːst(ə)n ˌwiː hæv ə ˈpɹɒbləm/
• (General American) IPA: /ˈ(h)justən ˌwi hæv ə ˈpɹɑbləm/
• ハイフネーション: Hous‧ton, we have a prob‧lem

成句

Houston, we have a problem

1. (US, humorous) Used to report that a (major) problem has occurred.
   • 2002, Dan Ramsey, Complete Idiot’s Guide to Solar Power for Your Home (Complete Idiot’s Guide), Indianapolis, Ind.: Alpha Books, →ISBN, page xvii:

     Houston, we have a problem. We're running out of oil! The petroleum that fuels our daily lives is getting harder to find.

   • 2025 November 12, Tom Edwards, “Tackling the 'Euston Rush'”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 32:

     My own contribution for the BBC London headline at the time was: "Euston, we have a problem."

参照

Further reading

• Houston, we have a problem on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Gary Martin (1997–), “Houston, we have a problem”, in The Phrase Finder.