Modul 5: Idiom 32: Hands Down

Hands Down

Hi. Let’s take a look at the Idiom, ‘Hands Down.’ What does this mean? If I said “Yes, it is hands down the best!”, it’s like me saying, “yes, it’s easily the best!” or “yes, without a doubt it’s the best!” If you describe something using the idiom “hands down” then you are completely sure about it.

So what is the origin of this idiom?

“Hands down” is a term used in the 19th Century during horse racing events. If a Jockey knew that they could win ‘hands down’, than they knew that they were so far ahead in the race that they could remove their hands from the reins and still win the race.

Take a look at our illustration.

Can you see how happy the racing jockey is? He is happy because he is so far ahead of the other racers. He is ‘hands down’ faster than the other jockeys and he knows that he is, so he’s let go of the reins to win with his ‘hands down.’ If the other jockey at the bottom of the illustration was closer to the main jockey, then the main jockey wouldn’t be ‘hands down’ faster and he certainly would not be letting go of the reins to win with his ‘hands down.’

Here are some examples before we go to the concept questions…

“That was hands down the best roast dinner I have ever eaten!”

“I’m hands down the fastest driver here!”

“My wife is a much better cook than me, hands down.”

“She is hands down the prettiest girl I‘ve ever met.”

“If you think that you can beat me hands down, then you are wrong!”

Great.

Let’s look at some situations and check your understanding:

1. Jim has always been an incredible chess player. My friend Kelly and I always go to the school competitions to watch him play but at his last match on Monday night, I went on my own because Kelly was busy. For the first time, Jim lost the competition. He was devastated – very, very sad and disappointed. The next day Kelly said to me, “I can’t believe he lost! Oh, well. He is hands down the best player.” Is she correct?

No. Although Jim is one of the best players, he lost his last match, so he can’t be the best.

2. My sister and I were having a conversation about which Disney movie is the best. I like a lot of Disney movies so I wasn’t sure what my favourite movie was but I told her that I thought it was The Lion King. “Are you serious?” She replied. Would it be appropriate for me to say “Oh, hands down”?

No. There’s still some doubt in my mind – because I’m not completely sure – , so saying, ‘hands down’ isn’t the right idiom for this conversation.

3. Today my girlfriend broke up with me. I feel empty and sad. I almost feel as sad as when my dog died. That was horrible. I miss my girlfriend so much but she has really hurt my feelings. Is my girlfriend breaking up with me, hands down the worst feeling I’ve ever had?

No. I felt worse when my dog died.

4. Lorna often swims at galas. She had two races. For the first race, she swam Front Crawl which she won. The runner up – the second swimmer – was six seconds slower than her. The second race she swam was Backstroke which she also won. In this race, the runner up was only half a second slower than her. In which race did Lorna win, hands down?

Lorna won hands down in the Front Crawl because she was a whole six seconds faster than the runner up.

5. I’ve been travelling around Europe for a month now. It’s been amazing! I’ve seen so many beautiful places but I’m running out of money. To save my money I have been getting on trains in the evenings so that I don’t have to book hotel rooms overnight. That way, I can sleep on the train and then by the time I wake up, I’ll be in the next city or country. The problem is however, I’ve discovered that I can’t sleep on trains! I’ve been awake solidly for the last fifty-one hours. I am exhausted! I have never stayed awake for this long before.

Can I say that I am “hands down, the most tired I’ve ever been? Yes. Staying up for over 51 hours is not only exhausting but also dangerous.

Great. Now go and practise. See you soon.