Photo credit: lindisfarnecottages.co.uk
A few weeks ago I started volunteering at a local charity bookshop. I’ve been thinking about it for a while and finally decided to fill in an application. However, I’m finding that this is only going to aggravate my book-hoarding problem.
Anyway… today a lady came into a shop and approached me and my fellow volunteers saying ‘I know it’s a long shot, but do you think you might have a book…’
I’ve heard this expression on numerous occasions and I am quite fond of it. It means ‘an attempt or guess that is not likely to be successful but that is worth trying’ (MacMillan Dictionary).
More examples of usage:
– It’s a long shot, but well worth trying (Oxford Dictionaries).
– Though not impossible, attempting to obtain permission for residential use would be a long shot (Oxford Dictionaries).
– Mr Yu, a 26-year-old policeman, describes himself as conservative and is looking for a woman with “traditional virtues”. His attendance at the expo, the city’s largest yet, is a long shot; he would prefer a marriage set up by colleagues or by his parents. It worked for them 30 years ago, he says (The Economist).
There’s a similar-sounding phrase that I wasn’t aware of – ‘(not) by a long shot‘, meaning ‘(Not) by far or at all’:
– We don’t have our act together in Washington by a long shot (Oxford Dictionaries).
– And in agreement with one of the comments made – Egypt is not ready for democracy, not by a long shot (The Economist).
– Dr Thatcher is dead and her one-time advisors do not have a chemistry degree from Oxford. Not by a long shot (The Economist).
Confessions of the Linguistic Spy 