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Definition: You can’t win because you keep losing; things would be going great if they weren’t going so poorly. People use this phrase when problems keep occurring that stop them from winning or accomplishing their goal.
They can't win for losing. From Making Paper, volume 9 (1926) [snippet view], which has the expression on page 180: We have a little lady in our office who just couldn't win for losing. She didn't have to holler "come you 'leven." She always drew it. and again on page 215: Somehow Mr. Hanny couldn't win for losing.
- Elephind and Google Books searches dig up examples of the expression going back to the 1920s. The oldest match is from Johnny Dope, " Squints at Sp...
- As a teenager in the 60s I was a training jockey on the horse racing circuit and that's where I learned this phrase. I believe it originated from h...
- It is an expression of the unfairness of the universe that the speaker is experiencing. He is saying that in a fair universe, you allow for losses,...
- Sven's answer was informative. My late dad used the phrase multiple times when we were in Texas in 70's and 80's. He used it in the sense that no...
- My mother used this expression, and, yes, I think it was in the sixties. It meant just that the person was a sad sack, but I always understood it l...
- This is a fairly old expression, I heard my Dad say it in circa 1950. I googled a few explanations from searched phrase, and I didn't encounter...
Nov 23, 2022 · This idiom “Can’t Win For Losing” means you can not win as you have experienced continuous failure and everything is going wrong. This phrase is frequently used by those who are feeling down or unmotivated.
- No, there is no deeper meaning to the expression. This idiom describes that you can’t win because you are losing continuously or having a piece of...
- You can use the idiom “Can’t win for losing” when you are having a bad time and can’t get anything right. If you are trying to do something and w...
- The expression “Can’t win for losing” originates from the 1950s in America.
When one says “I can’t win for losing,” they mean “I can’t win because I’m losing all the time.” The confusing part of the phrase is the use of the preposition for to mean ‘because of,’ a sense primarily found in idioms such as this one.
Jan 28, 2015 · The Dictionary of American Slang (4th ed.) says the usage refers to someone “entirely unable to make any sort of success” or “persistently and distressingly bested.” The authors, Barbara Ann Kipfer and Robert L. Chapman, give this example: “We busted our humps, but we just couldn’t win for losing.”
Jun 19, 2022 · Can’t win for losing refers a popular United States-based colloquialism, used for expressing a series of bad luck and a lack of success.
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The idiom “not win for losing” is a common expression used in English language. It refers to a situation where someone cannot seem to succeed no matter what they do, and instead, they end up facing more problems or setbacks.
