Mission accomplished
Meaning
This phrase indicates that a task or objective has been successfully completed.
Origin
The phrase "Mission accomplished" gained widespread recognition and notoriety on May 1, 2003, when U.S. President George W. Bush delivered a speech aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln under a banner bearing these words. While intended to signal the successful completion of major combat operations in Iraq, the banner's premature declaration, made even as the war continued and insurgency grew, infused the phrase with a complex irony. It transformed a standard military debriefing term into a potent, and often satirized, symbol of a perceived disconnect between official statements and ongoing events.
Examples
- After months of hard work, the team finally launched the new product, and the project manager proudly declared, "Mission accomplished!"
- The children cheered, "Mission accomplished!" when they found the last hidden Easter egg.