![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Buckley's Chance
Oct. 9th, 2010 04:11 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
fidgetspin.livejournal.comToday I bring you a phrase rather than a word because I say so. The etymology is interesting and the word is different to me but perhaps not so much to our friends down under.
Buckley's Chance
An phrase meaning "no chance," similar to "a snowball's chance in hell." Also called "Buckley's hope" or "Buckley's and none."
Example My poor plants would have Buckley's chance of surviving under the care of my black thumb. Luckily there is a more competent gardener in the household.
Origin There are two possible origins to the phrase. The first is a play on words stemming from the now defunct Melbourne department store, Buckley and Nunn, and is generally phrased as there being two chances, Buckley's and none. The second possible origin is a reference to William Buckley, a convict sent to Australia in the early 1800s. He escaped and lived in an Aboriginal community for the next thirty years. The improbability of his survival became known as "Buckley's chance."
Buckley's Chance
An phrase meaning "no chance," similar to "a snowball's chance in hell." Also called "Buckley's hope" or "Buckley's and none."
Example My poor plants would have Buckley's chance of surviving under the care of my black thumb. Luckily there is a more competent gardener in the household.
Origin There are two possible origins to the phrase. The first is a play on words stemming from the now defunct Melbourne department store, Buckley and Nunn, and is generally phrased as there being two chances, Buckley's and none. The second possible origin is a reference to William Buckley, a convict sent to Australia in the early 1800s. He escaped and lived in an Aboriginal community for the next thirty years. The improbability of his survival became known as "Buckley's chance."
