Success & Failure

Winning, losing, trying, and the language of outcomes

はじめに

英語には成功と失敗を表す豊かな語彙があります——華々しい勝利から派手な敗北まで。「smashed it（やったった！）」「nailed it（完璧にこなした）」「come a cropper（大失敗した）」と、結果のスペクトラムをすべてカバーする表現が揃っています。

イギリス英語は勝利でさえ控えめに表現する傾向があります。大成功でも「not bad（まあまあだね）」、失敗は「a bit of a disaster（ちょっとした大惨事かな）」と言ったり。アメリカ人は素直に喜びを表す方だし、オーストラリア人は勝っても負けても特有のユーモアを発揮します。

この章では、ちょっとした失敗から大きな成功まで、物事がどう転んだかを伝えるフレーズを学びます。

テーマ

この章の英語スラング一覧（72）

• Smash it To succeed brilliantly or perform excellently.
• Nail it To do something perfectly or exactly right.
• Come a cropper To fail badly or have an accident.
• Cock-up A mistake or blunder; to make a mess of something.
• Balls-up A complete mess or serious mistake.
• Pull it off To succeed in doing something difficult.
• Fall through To fail to happen or be completed.
• Go pear-shaped To go wrong or fail (British).
• Go tits up To fail completely or go badly wrong.
• Ace it To do something extremely well, especially a test.
• Flop A complete failure, especially of a performance or product.
• Bomb To fail spectacularly (American); to succeed brilliantly (British).
• Tank To fail completely (American).
• Hit the jackpot To have great success or good fortune.
• Strike gold To find or achieve something very valuable.
• Crash and burn To fail completely and spectacularly.
• Hit it out of the park To do something extremely well; to exceed expectations.
• Blow it To ruin an opportunity or fail when success was possible.
• Drop the ball To make a mistake or fail to follow through.
• Back to the drawing board To start again after a failed attempt.
• Make the cut To meet the required standard or qualify.
• Miss the boat To miss an opportunity.
• Win hands down To win easily and decisively.
• Bite the dust To fail, die, or be defeated.
• Down the drain Wasted; lost beyond recovery.
• Fly off the shelves To sell very quickly.
• Sell like hotcakes To sell very quickly and in large quantities.
• Pip at the post To narrowly defeat someone at the last moment.
• On a roll Experiencing a series of successes.
• Come up trumps To succeed unexpectedly or produce a good result.
• Go down a storm To be extremely well-received or popular.
• Land on your feet To emerge from a difficult situation in a good position.
• Have the last laugh To ultimately succeed after initial setbacks or mockery.
• Steal the show To attract the most attention or be the most impressive.
• Take the biscuit To be the most surprising, annoying, or extreme example.
• Runaway success An overwhelming, rapid success.
• Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory To fail when success seemed certain.
• Clutch victory A win achieved under high pressure at a crucial moment.
• Epic fail A spectacular or embarrassing failure.
• Try your luck To make an attempt despite uncertain chances of success.
• Give it a shot To try something; to make an attempt.
• Fall at the first hurdle To fail at the very beginning of an attempt.
• Come out on top To end up as the winner or in the best position.
• No dice No success; it didn't work; request refused.
• Shot in the arm Something that gives encouragement or renewed energy.
• Cut your losses To abandon a failing venture to prevent further loss.
• Down but not out Suffering setbacks but still fighting.
• Saved by the bell Rescued from a difficult situation at the last moment.
• struck gold made a valuable discovery or achievement
• pass with flying colours succeed brilliantly
• home and dry safely successful
• play a blinder perform exceptionally well
• stormer exceptional performance or thing
• clean sweep winning everything in a competition
• knock it out of the park achieve spectacular success
• hit the ground running start successfully without delay
• going gangbusters proceeding with great energy and success
• on fire performing exceptionally well
• smashing it doing brilliantly
• crushing it achieving outstanding success
• at the top of their game performing at peak ability
• the world is your oyster you have every opportunity available
• you've made it achieved success
• ahead of the game in an advantageous position
• gone bust failed financially
• gone pear-shaped gone wrong
• fell flat failed completely
• flunk fail an exam or course
• throw a spanner in the works cause disruption to a plan
• make a dog's dinner of mess something up badly
• make a pig's ear of botch or bungle something
• egg on your face look foolish due to failure