Definition Detail: Showstopper
"Showstopper" can be used to mean "an act, song, dance or performance that wins so much applause that it interrupts a show" or "an impediment or deal-breaker that can stop the progress of something." But which is correct, or are both?
What's the correct meaning of "showstopper"?
Impressive performance
Deal-breaker
Both, but mostly first meaning
Both, equally correct
And the right answer is the third option. “Showstopper” can mean both an “impressive performance" or a “deal-breaker.” The word originally and most correctly does pertain to a spectacular performance that, for example, brings an audience to wildly applaud and stop a show for a moment. However, whether we like it or not, there is sufficient evidence of usage now that “showstopper” has also taken on the meaning of “something that can break off negotiations or stop a deal.” This meaning is in the Merriam-Webster and Cambridge dictionaries, and it was even included in the last book by legendary copy editor Bill Walsh, Yes, I Could Care Less, in 2013. In any case, careful writers would do well to avoid this newer meaning of the word and instead use “deal-breaker” or something similar.