Short-lived Success is a 'Flash in the Pan' The URL has been copied to your clipboard 0:00 0:04:45 0:00 Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. On this program we take a closer look at common words and expressions in the English language. Today we will talk about how to describe something that shows promise of being great, but then turns out to be…not so great. We can call this a flash in the pan. First, let’s look at the words in this expression. A flash is a sudden burst of light or fire -- here one second and gone the next. And a pan is a kind of container usually used for cooking. But it has other meanings, too. We will talk about that later.