A quick thesaurus search of synonyms for “making a mess” reveals: blundered, botched, goofed, mishandled, ruined, screwed up. Now let your mind go to the “pointing Rick Dalton” meme from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the one where DiCaprio sits up, beer and cigarette in hand, and points to the television with a shock of recognition. That’s what I felt when I came across “screwed up.” There, that’s it! That’s what I did. I didn’t make a mess. Oh no, I screwed up.
