hiding to nothing

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#1·8h ago

(idiomatic, British, informal) A situation in which victory has little or no value, but defeat has a huge cost.

It would have been madness to encourage them to back the mare : in fact I was on a hiding to nothing whatever happened.

Origin: From horse racing, beating; as used to express gambling odds, e.g., 6 to 1. Literally, the phrase can be described as to bet on a contest whose outcome is at worst a beating, or at best nothing. A heavily favoured team in a sporting contest earns no credit for victory, but is shamed by defeat; this team is said to be on a hiding to nothing. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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