COMMON You say the bubble bursts to mean that a very successful or happy time ends. The bubble has burst. Crowds at the team's World League games are down from last year's 40,000 average to 22,000. After the internet bubble burst, you would have believed that no one wanted innovation. Note: You can also say that someone or something pricks the bubble when they cause something happy or successful to end. They fear to do anything that would prick the stock-market bubble. Note: The bubble referred to in these expressions is the South Sea Bubble, a financial disaster which took its name from The South Sea Company. In the early 18th century, this company took over the British national debt in return for a monopoly of trade with the South Seas. A lot of people invested in the company, but it crashed in 1720 and many investors became bankrupt.