It seems there is a small matter of confusion over the header on our last post, so I'd better clear it up by saying that it was written in an entirely positive way, i.e. they lucked out = they had good fortune. I very nearly titled the post "Locks victorious in local elections" but it sounded a bit full of it to me. Mebbe should'a stuck with it tho... ;)
Anyhoo, a quick search on Google came up with lots of info, including the following search results which might help any baffled readers. Oh, and now that I'm delving into it more, it seems that there's a global confusion on the matter so you're not alone! Also, I discover that it can mean to have better luck than expected which isn't what I was meaning either... sigh! Perhaps a better title could have been, "Didn't they do well!" [in the style of Bruce Forsyth].
- Does "lucked out" mean that my luck ran out or that my luck paid out? i.e. was I lucky or unlucky? I've never really understood this phrase and I've heard it used in either situation by people who sounded confident in its use.
This is a fascinating question that various word-writers have puzzled over.
The short answer is that luck out is usually used to mean 'to meet with exceptional good luck'. This sense is recorded during World War II and is found consistently thereafter, though several examples from the 1950s show that it was considered new or unusual by various commentators at the time. - Yes, apparently it can mean both but to be lucky is more common.
- I'm glad this is not part of my normal vocabulary - for apparently the population is split with 3/4 people believing it is lucky, 1/4 unlucky [OED has only the lucky version].
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