"Luck out"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Here apparently is another "lucked out," adj. :

1942 _Time_ (Sept. 28) 56: The Press: Lucked Out ... If indestructible
Larry Allen's luck had indeed run out (his capture is still not
officially conformed), he could console himself with the knowledge
that his courageous efforts to get the news had made newspaper
history. ...[He had] two miraculous escapes from death. ...Allen is
the 18th U.S. correspondent ... to be taken prisoner on the job in
World War II.

This appears to be the only time Time has used th phrase.

JL


On Sat, Oct 15, 2011 at 1:37 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "Luck out"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> …and nominated here (on Monday) as a QOTY candidate.
>
> LH
>
> On Oct 15, 2011, at 6:49 AM, Charles C Doyle wrote:
>
>> Not to be confused with the recent, punful "Suck for Luck," an expression that might be opaque to those other than to football fans.
>>
>> --Charlie
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Douglas G. Wilson [douglas at NB.NET]
>> Sent: Saturday, October 15, 2011 4:48 AM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>
>> Here is something which seems a little interesting (to me anyway),
>> brought up recently on Language Log (I don't know how much overlap there
>> is between ADS-L and Language Log followers).
>>
>> "Luck out" [v. intrans.] has two opposing senses: (1) 'positive',
>> meaning "encounter good luck" or so; (2) 'negative', meaning "encounter
>> bad luck" or so. Both are in HDAS. I think the record indicates overall
>> predominance of the 'positive' sense, but apparently the 'negative'
>> sense has some currency, especially (but maybe not only) outside the US.
>>
>> http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3484
>>
>> http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3486
>>
>> Apparently the 'positive' sense is attested at least as early as 1911
>> (US), the 'negative' at least as early as 1954 (US).
>>
>> Apparently the 'negative' sense was employed recently by Lee Child
>> (present-day novelist, US resident), and earlier by Pohl and Williamson
>> (1970's SF).
>>
>> -- Doug Wilson
>>
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