blindside vs fail

blindside

noun
  • A person's weak point. 

  • The blindside flanker, a position in rugby union, usually number 6. 

  • A tram/train driver's field of blindness around a tram (trolley/streetcar) or a train; the side areas behind the tram/train driver. 

  • The space on the side of the pitch with the shorter distance between the breakdown/set piece and the touchline; compare openside. 

  • A driver's field of blindness around an automobile; the side areas behind the driver. 

verb
  • To attack (a person) on his or her blind side. 

  • To catch off guard; to take by surprise. 

fail

noun
  • A failure (something incapable of success). 

  • A failure, especially of a financial transaction (a termination of an action). 

  • A failure (condition of being unsuccessful). 

  • A failing grade in an academic examination. 

  • Poor quality; substandard workmanship. 

  • A piece of turf cut from grassland. 

adj
  • Unsuccessful; inadequate; unacceptable in some way. 

verb
  • Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.) 

  • To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent. 

  • To receive one or more non-passing grades in academic pursuits. 

  • To give a student a non-passing grade in an academic endeavour. 

  • To be wanting to, to be insufficient for, to disappoint, to desert; to disappoint one's expectations. 

  • To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence. 

  • To neglect. 

  • To be unsuccessful. 

  • Of a machine, etc.: to cease to operate correctly. 

How often have the words blindside and fail occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )