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Old 15-Feb-2007, 05:42
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Default got it at the tip of my tongue!!!

hi!!

could anyone plz give me an expression which would describe the scenario given below:

If something happens to an individual out of the ordinary,for eg. a football team which is pretty average and for a season does something extraordinary...(may be say win the league).....then i've heard people use an expression(it's asked as a question)....which would in simple language be put across as:
"was this a stroke of luck or can they keep up the same next time as well ?"........the expression would replace the 'stroke of luck' part...
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Old 15-Feb-2007, 06:08
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Default Re: got it at the tip of my tongue!!!

Are any of the followings at the tip of your tongue?

1. Was this (a stroke of ) sheer/pure luck?
2. Were they just in luck?
3. Was this just the devil's own luck?
4. Was their luck simply in?
5. Did they just luck out?
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Old 15-Feb-2007, 15:44
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Default Re: got it at the tip of my tongue!!!

Or (v. informal, rare in writing) 'Was it a fluke?' /flu:k/

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Old 15-Feb-2007, 17:27
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Default Re: got it at the tip of my tongue!!!

beginner's luck?
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Old 16-Feb-2007, 11:25
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Default Re: got it at the tip of my tongue!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by queenbu View Post
beginner's luck?
, but for that you have to be a beginner. Even a seasoned pro can have a fluke ( 'have a fluke', 'make a fluke', 'do a fluke', 'play a fluke' all sound a bit odd to me - it more often exists as a comment: 'that was a fluke').

There's even an adjective: 'that goal was flukey'. (I'm not sure of the spelling - it's rarely if ever written.) This means about the same (and is equally informal) as 'jammy'; but I'm straying way off the topic now.

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Old 16-Feb-2007, 12:11
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Default Re: got it at the tip of my tongue!!!

Was it a one-off?
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