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Thu 13 Oct, 2005 08:40 pm
"Give them a good run for there money?"
What does it mean? The dictionary doesn't have an available answer for it. And I have gooled it for many times, still can't locate the exact meaning. Acording to the context in the novel I read, I guess it means to beat without mercy, but I'm not sure. Below is the context:
Richard grinned wearily at her. "Don't you want to know what happened? Well, we got ambushed by Mister Croup and Mister Vandemar. Unfortunately we didn't have a bodyguard around. Still,I gave them a good run for their money."
Hunter raised a perfect eyebrow. "I am in awe of your pugilistic talents," she said coolly.
Door giggled. "He's kidding. Actually--they killed us."
"As an expert in the termination of bodily functions," Hunter said, "I must beg to differ. You are neither of you dead. At a guess, you are both very drunk."
Any help here will be appreciated. Thank you!
I'm not sure if this is the actual official source of the idiom, but imagine that there is a race with a cash reward for the winner. The two racers square off and are neck and neck throughout, each spurring the other to even greater feats of athleticism. One wins, barely, and the other says ruefully, "Well, at least I gave him a good run for his money..."
Basically it means that even if you don't win you have tried really hard and made the person who DID win really have to work at it.
It's usually used in a competition context.
Oh and the problem in Googling it was probably your spelling of "their".
sozobe wrote:I'm not sure if this is the actual official source of the idiom, but imagine that there is a race with a cash reward for the winner. The two racers square off and are neck and neck throughout, each spurring the other to even greater feats of athleticism. One wins, barely, and the other says ruefully, "Well, at least I gave him a good run for his money..."
Basically it means that even if you don't win you have tried really hard and made the person who DID win really have to work at it.
It's usually used in a competition context.
Thanks, Sozobe, it's a very vivid and interesting explanation. I think I will never forget about it.
sozobe wrote:Oh and the problem in Googling it was probably your spelling of "their".
Oh, I didn't notice it, thx.
Quote:I think I will never forget about it.
Well! :-)
Welcome to A2K, wwlcj1982.
sozobe wrote:I'm not sure if this is the actual official source of the idiom...
I always assumed the original context had something to do with horse racing.
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