I believe ‘lucked out’ to be, almost certainly, a shorten form of, ‘that was a lucky outcome’. Whattayathink?
A devoted follower, Bruce
Bob Duell:
March 18th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
So one can both “luck into” something and “luck out” at the same time? How odd!
My thanks as well for the site, Bob
Topi:
March 29th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
How about the WWII connection with people out of luck, but not so much as to buy a farm. They usually lucked to get a ticket home.
Hal F.:
November 8th, 2011 at 11:28 am
I think the addition of out is a formation intended to communicate a sense of finality to a particular situation. One may luck out on one exam but not necessarily on the next one. There’s a phrase I hear more and more often in the sports world these days, and it’s “win out.” It is generally used to refer to teams finishing the rest of their schedule of games with victories. For example, “If the Giants win out, they will finish in first place.” Come to think of it, probably the best example, and maybe the source of the entire construction, is “to run out.”
Keith Jessop:
May 13th, 2012 at 4:59 am
Mate,confusion reigns,my wife and i had a bet on the meaning of lucked out.She,a big reader of american authors,insisted it meant good luck.On the other hand i insisted it meant bad luck because i grew up in the aussie bush and that has always been it’s purpose,to politely say,shit outta luck.Guess we’ll have to go halves on the restaurant bill.Thanks guys,i thought i was on a winner there but i guess i LUCKED OUT.
Anne:
May 15th, 2012 at 3:02 pm
Anyone notice how strange ‘luck’ sounds when you say, or read, it over and over?
Will:
July 27th, 2012 at 7:52 am
I think it is different to outta luck (out of luck): ‘he went for the catch, but he was outta luck [and dropped the ball].’
The Macquarie Dictionary gives the following definitions of ‘out':
4. to exhaustion, extinction, or conclusion; to the end; so as to finish or exhaust or be exhausted; so as to bring to naught or render useless: to pump out a well.
5. to or at an end or conclusion: to fight it out.
Would one of these explain the positive aspect of ‘lucking out’?
Mick:
August 22nd, 2012 at 5:19 am
I always think “to luck out” as being fortunate- in that you have used all of your luck in that one instance hence you are how “out” of luck.
Kristal:
October 26th, 2012 at 10:16 pm
Hey Keith – I’m an Aussie from the bush too and to ‘luck out’ for me (and everyone I know) means to have no luck. I was surprised the other day to come across it in an American book, and then hear it again on an American TV show, where it meant ‘to get lucky’. I was scratching my head I can tell you!
Michael Caramanis:
October 30th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
The last explanation given in the commentary seems very convincing to me. When there is a set of people who are in the majority of those who suffer the common consequences of a difficult/perilous situation, you are lucky if you happen to be so lucky as to be “out” of that set, and hence “luck out” of the set of unfortunate people. The operative concept here is that “chances are to be unlucky and suffer”, so for example when more than a million households in New Jersey went with out power in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, those who did not lose power “lucked out” of the almost normal situation — normal in the sence of most likely or frequent — of losing power.
John Mathers:
November 12th, 2012 at 4:52 am
Since “lucked out” is ambiguous, why use it? You can argue its mean equally in both directions, and it isn’t universally understood. The terms “out of luck” or “in luck”, however, do seem universally understood, so they would appear to be more satisfactory.
Judy Miller:
September 16th, 2016 at 11:21 am
I agree with Bruce Cunningham. The “out” in “Lucked Out” refers to the “outcome”, just as it does in “worked out”, “smoothed out”, “turned out”, “played out. There are likely a few other examples out there…another…”freaked out” just came to mind.
lucky:
April 30th, 2017 at 6:36 am
I too am an Aussie and we grew up in the bush with “luck out” meaning “out of luck” (as in – I went to the shop and they had run out of milk so I lucked out). I always understood it to be that the luck held in the upturned horseshoe (placed over the door in a house) had been tipped out thus out of luck. My spouse is American and he and his family grew up with lucked out meaning lucky – and this has been a source of confusion when communicating. So it appears to be an Aussie thing versus elsewhere.
kara thrace:
October 19th, 2020 at 3:15 pm
There is a reconciliation possible for the supposed usage in WWII, which is “Thems that die’ll be the lucky ones.” from RLS
kara thrace:
October 19th, 2020 at 3:18 pm
If you got wounded, you got sent home, so also lucky, assuming it wasn’t a missing limb(s) situation or PTSD
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Bruce Cunningham:
March 7th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
Thank you for your wonderful articles.
RE: lucked out
I believe ‘lucked out’ to be, almost certainly, a shorten form of, ‘that was a lucky outcome’. Whattayathink?
A devoted follower, Bruce
Bob Duell:
March 18th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
So one can both “luck into” something and “luck out” at the same time? How odd!
My thanks as well for the site, Bob
Topi:
March 29th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
How about the WWII connection with people out of luck, but not so much as to buy a farm. They usually lucked to get a ticket home.
Hal F.:
November 8th, 2011 at 11:28 am
I think the addition of out is a formation intended to communicate a sense of finality to a particular situation. One may luck out on one exam but not necessarily on the next one. There’s a phrase I hear more and more often in the sports world these days, and it’s “win out.” It is generally used to refer to teams finishing the rest of their schedule of games with victories. For example, “If the Giants win out, they will finish in first place.” Come to think of it, probably the best example, and maybe the source of the entire construction, is “to run out.”
Keith Jessop:
May 13th, 2012 at 4:59 am
Mate,confusion reigns,my wife and i had a bet on the meaning of lucked out.She,a big reader of american authors,insisted it meant good luck.On the other hand i insisted it meant bad luck because i grew up in the aussie bush and that has always been it’s purpose,to politely say,shit outta luck.Guess we’ll have to go halves on the restaurant bill.Thanks guys,i thought i was on a winner there but i guess i LUCKED OUT.
Anne:
May 15th, 2012 at 3:02 pm
Anyone notice how strange ‘luck’ sounds when you say, or read, it over and over?
Will:
July 27th, 2012 at 7:52 am
I think it is different to outta luck (out of luck): ‘he went for the catch, but he was outta luck [and dropped the ball].’
The Macquarie Dictionary gives the following definitions of ‘out':
4. to exhaustion, extinction, or conclusion; to the end; so as to finish or exhaust or be exhausted; so as to bring to naught or render useless: to pump out a well.
5. to or at an end or conclusion: to fight it out.
Would one of these explain the positive aspect of ‘lucking out’?
Mick:
August 22nd, 2012 at 5:19 am
I always think “to luck out” as being fortunate- in that you have used all of your luck in that one instance hence you are how “out” of luck.
Kristal:
October 26th, 2012 at 10:16 pm
Hey Keith – I’m an Aussie from the bush too and to ‘luck out’ for me (and everyone I know) means to have no luck. I was surprised the other day to come across it in an American book, and then hear it again on an American TV show, where it meant ‘to get lucky’. I was scratching my head I can tell you!
Michael Caramanis:
October 30th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
The last explanation given in the commentary seems very convincing to me. When there is a set of people who are in the majority of those who suffer the common consequences of a difficult/perilous situation, you are lucky if you happen to be so lucky as to be “out” of that set, and hence “luck out” of the set of unfortunate people. The operative concept here is that “chances are to be unlucky and suffer”, so for example when more than a million households in New Jersey went with out power in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, those who did not lose power “lucked out” of the almost normal situation — normal in the sence of most likely or frequent — of losing power.
John Mathers:
November 12th, 2012 at 4:52 am
Since “lucked out” is ambiguous, why use it? You can argue its mean equally in both directions, and it isn’t universally understood. The terms “out of luck” or “in luck”, however, do seem universally understood, so they would appear to be more satisfactory.
Judy Miller:
September 16th, 2016 at 11:21 am
I agree with Bruce Cunningham. The “out” in “Lucked Out” refers to the “outcome”, just as it does in “worked out”, “smoothed out”, “turned out”, “played out. There are likely a few other examples out there…another…”freaked out” just came to mind.
lucky:
April 30th, 2017 at 6:36 am
I too am an Aussie and we grew up in the bush with “luck out” meaning “out of luck” (as in – I went to the shop and they had run out of milk so I lucked out). I always understood it to be that the luck held in the upturned horseshoe (placed over the door in a house) had been tipped out thus out of luck. My spouse is American and he and his family grew up with lucked out meaning lucky – and this has been a source of confusion when communicating. So it appears to be an Aussie thing versus elsewhere.
kara thrace:
October 19th, 2020 at 3:15 pm
There is a reconciliation possible for the supposed usage in WWII, which is “Thems that die’ll be the lucky ones.” from RLS
kara thrace:
October 19th, 2020 at 3:18 pm
If you got wounded, you got sent home, so also lucky, assuming it wasn’t a missing limb(s) situation or PTSD