A better word might have been “failure”. Something is a failure when it fails to do what it says it does. openfile(); If openfile() does not open a file, the

A better word might have been “failure”. Something is a failure when it fails to do what it says it does. openfile(); If openfile() does not open a file, then it failed. This terminology makes it clear we are not just bubbling up errors. It’s the function itself which failed.