mug's game

mug's game

A task or activity that is foolish, dangerous, or will not result in a positive outcome. Primarily heard in UK. Allowing your children to play with fireworks is a mug's game. They are bound to get injured.
See also: game
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a mug's game

an activity which it is stupid to engage in because it is likely to be unsuccessful or dangerous. informal
Mug was mid 19th-century slang for a fool, in particular someone who has been duped by a card sharper or criminal. Mug's game appeared in the early 20th century and has been applied to a wide variety of activities, especially horse racing and betting on horses.
1992 Economist From the way many western businessmen talk, you would think investing in eastern Germany was a mug's game.
See also: game
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • a mug's game
  • be a mug's game
  • balls on about (something)
  • bang on about (something)
  • bang away about (something)
  • a fool and his money are soon parted
  • fool and his money are soon parted
  • fool and his money are soon parted, a
  • parted
  • (as) silly as a wheel
References in periodicals archive
He said: "I did A Mug's Game when I was 14, so I was well aware of Takin' Over The Asylum.
Jenny Jones (Green Party): Betting is a mug's game and the bookie will always win.
Gambling, for almost all of us at least, is a mug's game, its entertainment value quickly cancelled out by the misery of mounting losses if indulged in for any length of time.
His last TV acting job in his homeland was A Mug's Game - the story of life in a remote fishing village - back in 1996.
But not only is it foolish to bluff when opponents expect you to, statistically, bluffing can be a mug's game, a fact which has been known to the odd poker mentor for more than eighty years.
Not only is it foolish to bluff when opponents expect you to but, statistically, bluffing can be a mug's game, a fact known to the odd poker mentor for more than 80 years.
Machan rejects the propositions that generosity doesn't exist and that generosity is a mug's game. He also emphatically rejects the proposition that the welfare state is superior to voluntary action as an instrument for meeting human needs.
Science, like poetry, can be a mug's game. Some of those aseptic researchers in white coats would kill for a Nobel-class discovery like "cold fusion" and carve up some backs to snag a government grant.
Just goes to show that extrapolating from responses to surveys is a mug's game.
Jeanette Poole GAMBLING'S a mug's game. I wouldn't go near these betting machines as well.
It is normally a mug's game to bet on wide-margin victories from favourites but in this instance City may well cut loose and score almost at will.
They would also say missing training just so you can take the field on a Saturday is a mug's game at their age and the only person who will lose out is the mug who does it.
The old adage that gambling is a mug's game still holds true despite the fact background information and tips on how to bet successfully are more readily available than ever.
A group of Northumberland College students have proved that raising money for charity is a mug's game after they raised more than pounds 1,000 in a charity mug auction.
He said: "As far as I am concerned, this is further proof that smoking is a mug's game that costs you a lot of money and takes 10 years of your life."