| 词组 | backed the wrong horse |
| 释义 | (redirected from backed the wrong horse)back the wrong horseTo support a person or an effort that fails. This expression refers to betting on horse races. You really backed the wrong horse when you picked that swimmer to win the race—he didn't even medal! Politicians who backed the wrong horse in the election are now trying to curry favor with the winning candidate—without much success. back the wrong horseFig. to support someone or something that cannot win or succeed. I don't want to back the wrong horse, but it seems to me that Jed is the better candidate. Fred backed the wrong horse in the budget hearings. back the wrong horseAlso, bet on the wrong horse. Guess wrongly or misjudge a future outcome, as in Jones garnered only a few hundred votes; we obviously backed the wrong horse, or Counting on the price of IBM to rise sharply was betting on the wrong horse. Transferred from wagering money on a horse that fails to win the race, a usage dating from the late 1600s, this term is widely applied to elections and other situations of uncertain outcome. back the wrong horseIf you back the wrong horse, you support someone or something that fails in business or in a contest, election, etc. He backed the wrong horse in the recent Tory leadership contest. The PM has wasted no time in sending the pro-euro camp a signal that they've backed the wrong horse. Note: Verbs such as bet on or pick or phrases such as put money on can be used instead of back. Betting on takeovers can backfire if you pick the wrong horse. back the wrong horsemake a wrong or inappropriate choice.ˌback the wrong ˈhorse(British English) support the person, group etc. that later loses a contest or fails to do what was expected: I certainly backed the wrong horse when I said United would win the Cup Final.Many people who had voted for the party in the election were now feeling that they had backed the wrong horse.In horse racing, if you back the wrong horse you bet money on a horse that does not win the race. back the wrong horseMake a wrong guess about a future outcome. The term comes from horse racing and is occasionally put as bet on the wrong horse, and has been used in this context since the late seventeenth century. It has long been applied to other situations, especially politics, where it means supporting a candidate who loses. Charles L. Graves used it in Punch’s History (1922): “Lord Salisbury made his remarkable speech about our having backed the wrong horse, i.e. Turkey in the Crimean War.” |
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