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old hand
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OP
old hand
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In a PM exchange, I asked a member of this board not to do something. She responded by saying, "well sjm, you lucked out - I didn't do it" This usage caught me by surprise, since I would use "lucked out" to mean the exact opposite, that I was out of luck, and that the undesired had in fact happened. Is my understanding of this phrase simply a personal aberration, an upworlder thang, or what? Does "to luck out" actually mean "to get lucky" (insert honey soy disclaimer here)?
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear sjm: I have often heard "lucked out" meaninga to be lucky. Bad luck could be "crapped out" (dice), struck out (baseball), flunked, flopped, etc.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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it's the way I have always heard it used.
interestingly, "you're in luck" means the same as "out of luck".
ach! a grievous error on my part! that should read "lucked out", not "out of luck"! many humble apologies, especially to tsuwm, who's under the weather.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In reply to:
But we would bet (and we're feeling pretty lucky today) that when most of us employ luck out, we use the phrase in a much different sense: "to succeed because of good luck." How did this reversal in meaning come about?
MW seems to show that the phrase has taken a turn to mean its opposite. Now what is that word our very own Too likes to use in these circumstances?
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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Merriam-Webster agrees with you
Depending on how far down the article you read:
Our evidence shows that when luck was used as a verb during World War II, it was suggestive of good luck, not bad, and we have only a single citation showing luck out in the "bad luck" sense.
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I love being chopped liver. Being chopped liver is all I want to be. Call me veiled or vile or mantled or dismantled--it's all chopped liver to me.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Being chopped liver
What now, my fine pâté?
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Would we would just turn this into a food thread and show here tried-but-true recipes for pâté. Where's of troy when we need her in earnest?
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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need her in earnest
I think Earnest is out of luck.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
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Earnest is someone it is important to be.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Earnest is someone it is important to be.
...if'n you likes walkin' lobsters and such in the wildes...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>"you're in luck" means the same as "out of luck".
you guys are playing with my mind now; I'd say "you're in luck" means the opposite of "you're out of luck"; but once you've realized that good luck it can be said that "you lucked out"--"you lucked in" I've never heard.
apologies for any inadvertent mantling--I'm suffering from an awful head cold and have been feeling discombobulated all day.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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my dear Mr. Tsuwm, please accept my apologies for my errant thoughts. I have added a correction to my previous post. etaoin chicken soup does wonders, I hear tell. 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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"Lucked out" or "luck out" has always meant "got or get lucky" here in Jersey. Usually heard in the phrases "looks like he lucked out" or "you might just luck out". "Lucking out' is actually a tad beyond lucky, though...almost undeservedly so. Everyone knows someone who "always lucks out" or "always seems to luck out." Some people just step in good fortune at every turn...others just "step in it." But, come to think of it, "always stepping in shit" can mean lucky, too.
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Certainly, as far as I know, "getting lucky" is the same as "lucking out". Without any checking and without prejudice, I suspect that "lucking out" is an Americanism.
My fully-errant memory (no discombobulating cold here, although I do have an attention-seeking kitten with four full and fully-operational sets of claws to distract me) tells me that I have most often heard the expression on American TV shows.
So (furiously chopping liver) it would appear that "out of luck" is indeed a fully antonym for "lucking out".
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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So tell me this , is Earnest going to get lucky with me? or am i out of luck?
i don't post for a couple of hours, and its looks like i might luck out...but now, Earnest is no where to be seen!
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To luck out =is to have a lucky break
I lucked out- the store was totally sold out, except for one pair of sale shoes, and they were the ones i wanted, and in my size!
about the only time i can think of when unspecified luck/lucky is not good luck is the expression lucky me!
as in lucky me!- today was the first day, all week, that i got a seat on the train. then, the guy standing in front of me, slipped as the train started, and spilled hot coffee all over me!
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