"(one's) to lose"

Sun Oct 2 22:37:32 UTC 2011

Here are some raw Google Books matches for "ours to lose" and "theirs
to lose". I may not understand the figure of speech being sought.

The dictionary of games and amusements - Page 114
books.google.com
Henry Frith - 1884 - Free Google eBook - Read
With fairy step we compass round The pyramid's capacious bound. Or,
step by step, ambitious climb The cloud-capped mountain's height
sublime. Riches, though we do not use, 'Tis ours to gain and ours to
lose.

Parochial sermons: Volume 4 - Page 169
books.google.com
John Henry Newman - 1839 - Free Google eBook - Read
They are ours to possess, that is our glory; they are ours to lose,
that is our solicitude. We can keep them, we have not to gain them, —
but we shall not keep them without fear and trembling ; still we have
them, and there is nothing ...

Babyhood: devoted exclusively to the care of infants and young ...:
Volume 3 - Page 189
books.google.com
1887 - Free Google eBook - Read
As it is ours to keep for always, with all the satisfaction the
possession of a good name affords, so is it not ours to lose, but is
fastened irrevocably upon us unless removed by legislative enactment.

A companion to the services of the Church of England for every ... - Page 248
books.google.com
Church of England services - 1843 - Free Google eBook - Read
Our privileges are ours to possess, that is our glory ; they are ours
to lose, that is our care. We can keep them, we have not to gain them,
— but we shall not keep them without fear and trembling ; still we
have them, ...

The history of English patriotism: Volume 1 - Page 236

books.google.comEsmé Cecil Wingfield-Stratford - 1913 - Free Google eBook - Read
Then, when imminent danger forced Englishmen to realize how priceless
a treasure was theirs to lose, when love and loyalty had risen to
fever-heat, came tidings that the galleons were scudding riddled and
defeated, with Drake at their ...

Punch: Volume 141
Mark Lemon, Henry Mayhew, Tom Taylor - 1911 - Snippet view
They have neared the stream, they have crossed the bridge, And they
stop in s:ght of the rugged ridge, And it 's " Flankers back ! " and "
Skirm shers in ! " And the summit is theirs to lose or win - To win
with honour or lose with ...

On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 3:48 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "(one's) to lose"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Even if Louis really did wish to lose his crown (did he?), I don't see how
> the 1916 nuance could differ more than slightly from what is now current.
> Maupeou thinks Louis is making a mistake - but that's his problem and
> responsibility.
>
> But whatever the literal meaning of the seemingly straightforward phrase "X
> is Y's to lose," that elementary string of words, which individually are in
> the vocabulary of every three-year-old, seems not to exist in print in the
> English language before 1916. That means that effectively it had no
> existence. That situation apparently persisted for about another 80 years.
>
> After the mid '90s, it became a staple in political and sporting discourse.
>
> The encapsulization and the prompt routinization, through a simple
> phrase, of a fairly subtle, and fairly cynical, concept should be of some
> interest.
>
> There is a pat assurance in the idiom that only an egregious blunder by the
> agent in question could lead to a loss. In other words, he/she/it is in
> seeming command of events and, at the same time, rather likely to blunder,
> or to be blindsided by something.  (I think the idea of "blundering" is more
> to the fore, but that may just be my feeling.)
>
> The drama of the fantasy undoubtedly has promoted the popularity of the
> phrase.
>
>
> JL
>
> On Sun, Oct 2, 2011 at 1:04 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: "(one's) to lose"
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I'd go further--your interpretation of the old quote is influenced by
>> current usage. And, for all we know, the expression may be a
>> calque--certainly was for Cacoyannis's line.
>>
>>     VS-)
>>
>> On 10/2/2011 12:33 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> > But the Louis XV's "crown" is both actual and metaphorical: his reign
>> even
>> > more than the thing on his head. Moreover, the entire context admits of
>> the
>> > suggestion that if he were to lose it, it would be his own damned fault:
>> >
>> >
>> http://www.archive.org/stream/eighteenthcentur00stryuoft#page/218/mode/2up/search/%22his+to+lose%22
>> >
>> > (The awesome quip that immediately follows is also worth noting:
>> >
>> > "Terray was dismissed on the same day. Everywhere it was said : 'It is
>> the
>> > Saint
>> > Bartholomew of Ministers,' and the Spanish ambassador is reported to
>> > have answered
>> > :
>> > 'Yes, but it is not the Massacre of the Innocents.'")
>> >
>> > My SWAG is that the Dickinson-Stryienski quote spent decades as the
>> property
>> > of professors of French history, quoted occasionally in person but
>> seemingly
>> > not in print (though I haven't checked JSTOR, for example).  Cacoyannis
>> may
>> > or may not have been inspired by it.
>> >
>> > Of course, the current use may be completely independent of these
>> citations.
>> >
>> >   JL
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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