Every Christmas is flush with predictions about the year to come. Instead, The Huffington Post UK looks back at predictions people made about and during 2014 which they probably would rather they hadn't.
The Worst Predictions of 2014
Scots would 'comfortably' vote No(01 of07)
You may say 55% is a "comfortable margin". But when The Economist was forecasting last year, it must have had a wider margin in mind.
Scotland voted No but came much closer to a Yes than campaigners would ever have thought. After the vote, The Economist itself said a Yes vote had become "eminently possible" in its morning-after write-up, adding the actual result "would have seemed amazingly close" to those making predictions months earlier.
The august magazine predicted Better Together's Alistair Darling would keep the debate calm and thereby would save the Union. But the former chancellor underwhelmed and came off the worse in his televised debates Alex Salmond.
In the end, the Labour heavyweight who saved the day was Gordon Brown, whose late and uncharacteristically passionate intervention was a huge surprise. (credit:Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
Scotland voted No but came much closer to a Yes than campaigners would ever have thought. After the vote, The Economist itself said a Yes vote had become "eminently possible" in its morning-after write-up, adding the actual result "would have seemed amazingly close" to those making predictions months earlier.
The august magazine predicted Better Together's Alistair Darling would keep the debate calm and thereby would save the Union. But the former chancellor underwhelmed and came off the worse in his televised debates Alex Salmond.
In the end, the Labour heavyweight who saved the day was Gordon Brown, whose late and uncharacteristically passionate intervention was a huge surprise. (credit:Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
Football was coming home(02 of07)
A lot of people made daft predictions about how England would do in the World Cup. An awful lot of newspaper pundits were confident Roy Hodgson's men would reach the quarter-finals.
But MailOnline sports writer Dan Ripley stood out. In an atmosphere of gloom about facing Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in the group stages, he predicted: "Strong team ethic matched with no expectation and no pressure will see Roy Hodgson and his side pull off the unthinkable. Football's coming home."
We'd write a joke here but it somehow feels unnecessary.
(credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
But MailOnline sports writer Dan Ripley stood out. In an atmosphere of gloom about facing Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in the group stages, he predicted: "Strong team ethic matched with no expectation and no pressure will see Roy Hodgson and his side pull off the unthinkable. Football's coming home."
We'd write a joke here but it somehow feels unnecessary.
(credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Democrats would do ok in the mid-term elections(03 of07)
Democratic senator Chuck Schumer was nothing if not optimistic, nine days before his party suffered a terrible defeat in the US midterm elections.
"I know all the pundits are saying Republicans will take the Senate. Democrats are going to prove the pundits wrong on Election Day when we keep the Senate," he told Meet The Press.
You won't believe what happened next. Only joking, you will. The Republicans won enough seats to take control of the senate. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
"I know all the pundits are saying Republicans will take the Senate. Democrats are going to prove the pundits wrong on Election Day when we keep the Senate," he told Meet The Press.
You won't believe what happened next. Only joking, you will. The Republicans won enough seats to take control of the senate. (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Brazil would win 'that' game(04 of07)
Piers Morgan forecast victory for Brazil in their semi-final clash against Germany.
Germany's 7-1 thumping of Brazil is, as far as we know, the only World Cup clash to repeatedly be uploaded to the "public fucking" section of a porn website, as "Germany Fucking Brazil".David Luiz tearfully apologised to his country for letting them down. Mr Morgan at least had the good grace to acknowledge his failure.
David Luiz will drive Brazil to victory tonight. He's been my star of this World Cup. Such passion/commitment/determination. #BRAvGER
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 8, 2014Germany's 7-1 thumping of Brazil is, as far as we know, the only World Cup clash to repeatedly be uploaded to the "public fucking" section of a porn website, as "Germany Fucking Brazil".David Luiz tearfully apologised to his country for letting them down. Mr Morgan at least had the good grace to acknowledge his failure.
I backed Brazil to win, Fred to score & declared Luiz my man of the tournament. I feel a complete and utter prat.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 8, 2014Progress towards ending Syria's civil war(05 of07)
The situation in the Middle East now compared with 12 months ago is so different it almost feels bad form for calling people out over what they predicted would happen there.
As 2014 loomed, Al-Monitor columnist Laura Rozen said there would, "god willing", be progress towards ending the civil war that is threatening to outrun the First World War.
Now, a solution looks further away than ever. The West came so close to intervening against Assad in 2013 but now faces the bizarre prospect of aiding him by fighting his enemy - Islamic State, whose profile hugely increased this year after they broke through to attack and occupy much of northern Iraq.
The war looks set to continue raging well into 2015. (credit:KARAM AL-MASRI via Getty Images)
As 2014 loomed, Al-Monitor columnist Laura Rozen said there would, "god willing", be progress towards ending the civil war that is threatening to outrun the First World War.
Now, a solution looks further away than ever. The West came so close to intervening against Assad in 2013 but now faces the bizarre prospect of aiding him by fighting his enemy - Islamic State, whose profile hugely increased this year after they broke through to attack and occupy much of northern Iraq.
The war looks set to continue raging well into 2015. (credit:KARAM AL-MASRI via Getty Images)
We'd all die because of Barack Obama's incompetence!(06 of07)
The worst ever outbreak of Ebola did not ravage the United States, despite the predictions of latter-day Nostradamus Donald Trump, who tweeted:
Good pun, Tom. (credit:Mark Wilson via Getty Images)
The U.S. must immediately stop all flights from EBOLA infected countries or the plague will start and spread inside our "borders." Act fast!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2014I am starting to think that there is something seriously wrong with President Obama's mental health. Why won't he stop the flights. Psycho!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2014Good pun, Tom. (credit:Mark Wilson via Getty Images)
We'd all fall in love with Google Plus(07 of07)
As they say on Facebook: lol
Social media heavyweight Kim Garst wrote that the struggling social media site would reach "a tipping point" late this year, when people would "finally accept it as a great place to form connections, meet friends and share experiences in completely cool and captivating ways".
G+ may claim a large number of monthly users but they do not use it nearly as much as those on Facebook or Twitter.
Chris Messina, a former G+ employee, wrote earlier this month that he and Google "fucked up". "Lately, I just feel like Google+ is confused and adrift at sea," he wrote. "It's so far behind, how can it possibly catch up?" (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Social media heavyweight Kim Garst wrote that the struggling social media site would reach "a tipping point" late this year, when people would "finally accept it as a great place to form connections, meet friends and share experiences in completely cool and captivating ways".
G+ may claim a large number of monthly users but they do not use it nearly as much as those on Facebook or Twitter.
Chris Messina, a former G+ employee, wrote earlier this month that he and Google "fucked up". "Lately, I just feel like Google+ is confused and adrift at sea," he wrote. "It's so far behind, how can it possibly catch up?" (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)