The decision, which was largely expected, failed to prevent another increase in oil prices.
Speculation still continues about his future after an announcement of his retirement, which many had expected, failed to materialise over the weekend.
Soon after returning he volunteered for the British army, but, as expected, failed the necessary medical examination because of his poor sight.
Mr Assad's enemies are urging Mr Annan to draw up a timetable for what happens when the regime, as many expect, fails to keep his word.
The pop morality play you might expect fails early on to assert itself, and the clean language doesn't seem artificial.
Taleb describes her books as exemplary black swans, succeeding when expected to fail and failing when expected to succeed.
If the expected appeal fails, the state can use eminent domain to seize the remaining properties.
And merging distinct corporations sometimes takes longer than expected, or fails to produce the results that Wall Street wants.
What often happens is that an expected storm fails to materialize, or proves less spectacular than anticipated.
