[Vocabulary] 'trifecta win' / 'trifectra victories'

[Olympian]

Hello,

The terms 'trifecta win' and 'trifecta victories' appear in the Yahoo news story - Rick Santorum Benefactor Says If Help Is Needed He Will Be There

However, the always colorful Friess acknowledged that because of increased fundraising by the campaign since Santorum's surprise trifecta win in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado last week his help isn't needed as much.

and later,

He proudly stood behind Santorum when the former Pennsylvania senator scored his trifecta victories last week.

​

According to the 'Chrome pop-up dictionary' (when you double-click in the word), it says 'trifecta' means 'A bet in which the person betting forecasts the first three finishers in a race in the correct order'

Does this mean that Friess is the person betting (and guessing who the first three finishers are in a race), or could it be someone else?

Thank you

 

[BobSmith]

2 : triple - source

See also hat trick.

 

[5jj]

He proudly stood behind Santorum when the former Pennsylvania senator scored his trifecta victories last week.

According to the 'Chrome pop-up dictionary' (when you double-click in the word), it says 'trifecta' means 'A bet in which the person betting forecasts the first three finishers in a race in the correct order'

Does this mean that Friess is the person betting (and guessing who the first three finishers are in a race), or could it be someone else?

No. Santorum has won three victories: Santorum trifecta rattles White House race - US Election 2012 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

[SoothingDave]

You are correct that the horse race bet of a "trifecta" is to pick the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd finishers in a single race.

In this case, the author is appropriating the term to describe Santorum winning three contests in one day.

I agree that "hat trick" would be a better description of the feat, but one that fewer would understand.

 

[Olympian]

@BobSmith, @5jj, @SoothingDave, thank you all.

SoothingDave, I understand "hat trick" (this is heard in India in the context of the game of cricket).

If 'trifecta' is referring to Santorum winning in 3 states, then isn't 'hat trick' a more appropriate word? Because the definition of 'trifecta' gives the impression that it involves 1st, 2nd and 3rd position winners. I am not clear on how the US political race is conducted, but 'trifecta' gave me the impression that other than Santorum, there are two other candidates who 'won' (if this makes sense in the political process there), and further, someone had bet on it and got it right!
Or is my brain working overtime? ;-)

 

[5jj]

If 'trifecta' is referring to Santorum winning in 3 states, then isn't 'hat trick' a more appropriate word? Because the definition of 'trifecta' gives the impression that it involves 1st, 2nd and 3rd position winners. I am not clear on how the US political race is conducted, but 'trifecta' gave me the impression that other than Santorum, there are two other candidates who 'won' (if this makes sense in the political process there), and further, someone had bet on it and got it right!

Did you read the article in the link I provided, or Soothing Dave's follow-up? It's nothing do to with betting.

 

[SoothingDave]

@BobSmith, @5jj, @SoothingDave, thank you all.

SoothingDave, I understand "hat trick" (this is heard in India in the context of the game of cricket).

If 'trifecta' is referring to Santorum winning in 3 states, then isn't 'hat trick' a more appropriate word? Because the definition of 'trifecta' gives the impression that it involves 1st, 2nd and 3rd position winners. I am not clear on how the US political race is conducted, but 'trifecta' gave me the impression that other than Santorum, there are two other candidates who 'won' (if this makes sense in the political process there), and further, someone had bet on it and got it right!
Or is my brain working overtime? ;-)

Yes, I said "hat trick" was a better term.

You are thinking about it too much. The author merely noted a word that was associated with winning big (it's a difficult bet and wins a lot of money) and applied it to this situation because there were three contests.

 

[Olympian]

Yes, I said "hat trick" was a better term.

You are thinking about it too much. The author merely noted a word that was associated with winning big (it's a difficult bet and wins a lot of money) and applied it to this situation because there were three contests.

@SoothingDave, OK, thank you. :up:

 

[Olympian]

Did you read the article in the link I provided, or Soothing Dave's follow-up? It's nothing do to with betting.

@5jj, yes, I read the article in the link you provided and also SoothingDave's follow-up. From SoothingDave's response, I got it that it means 'hat trick' (which I am familiar with). I am sorry, I did not get any additional clarification from the article in the link in terms of the word 'trifecta' itself, because the article says the same thing in different words that the news story (link in original post) says - i.e. he won in three states. However, after reading your question, I went back and read all responses and links again, and realized that I had missed that Bob Smith had mentioned '2: triple' when he provided the link for 'trifecta'. When I clicked on that link while reading his response, I focused on the 1st meaning (despite it saying '2' in Bob Smith's response), and that is the reason for my confusion.

I apologize for my lack of attention and confusion.

I have a question regarding 'triple', for which, if appropriate or needed, I will open a new post if you want me to.

In India, it is common for people to say 'double two' or 'triple nine' when giving out phone numbers. But I have been told that this is confusing to people outside India. I just want to know if people in the UK or USA would understand this or not if someone uses these phrases while mentioning their phone numbers or would it be confusing for them because they are not used there.

Thank you.

 

[BobSmith]

I went back and read all responses and links again, and realized that I had missed that Bob Smith had mentioned '2: triple' when he provided the link for 'trifecta'. When I clicked on that link while reading his response, I focused on the 1st meaning (despite it saying '2' in Bob Smith's response), and that is the reason for my confusion.

I too was confused that people were continuing to give the definition when I had already done so. C'est la vie.