hedge your bets
protect yourself against making a wrong choice
TRANSLATION
hedge your bets = auf Nummer Sicher gehen, sich nach allen Seiten absichern --- GOOGLE INDEX hedge your bets: approximately 70,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Some shoppers may have HEDGED THEIR BETS on whether their holiday gifts would be delivered on time by buying the same product from more than one web site.
(www.ecommercetimes.com)
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Senator McCain thought that he was on the verge of winning the Republican nomination because, while his Republican opponents HEDGED THEIR BETS, he risked everything to support increasing the number of troops in Iraq…
(The New Yorker)
(www.ecommercetimes.com)
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Senator McCain thought that he was on the verge of winning the Republican nomination because, while his Republican opponents HEDGED THEIR BETS, he risked everything to support increasing the number of troops in Iraq…
(The New Yorker)
Did you
know?
hedge one's bets
idiom
- to protect oneself against making the wrong choice
- to try to avoid giving an opinion or choosing only one thing, so that whatever happens in the future one will not have problems or seem stupid
(Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms)
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WORD ORIGIN
Hedge is a noun that traces back to Old English. It originally referred to a fence, either man-made or one made from plants that serve as a natural barrier. Both the noun and verb evolved over time to mean protection in general in a figurative sense. Webb Garrison, in his book "Why You Say It", explains the phrase this way:
"Hedge. Throughout much of northern Europe, early farmers planted bushes and shrubs to serve as fences and boundary lines. Anglo-Saxons were partial to hawthorn, a row of which they called a 'hege.' It was a sign of caution to plant hawthorn around a field, or to hedge it. Eventually the name of the barrier came to be used in connection with many kinds of safeguards. As a result, we say that a person who puts money on several horses rather than only one hedges his bet. Many a person manages to hedge by avoiding direct promises and unqualified commitments."
Hedging your bets doesn't always pay off. Shortly before the First World War, British politician and horse racing enthusiast Horatio Bottomley came up with a sure way to win a fortune.
Prior to a race at Blackenberghe (in Belgium), Bottomley bought each of six competing horses. He then hired six English jockeys and gave them strict instructions concerning the order in which they were to finish the race. As an added precaution, he placed extra bets on all six horses. According to the story, halfway through the race, a heavy fog blew in from the sea, engulfing the entire course. The judges couldn't see the horses and the jockeys couldn't see one another. The race ended in chaos. Despite hedging his bets, Bottomley lost a fortune and learned not to hedge against Mother Nature.
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"Today we realise that so-called financial experts have been removed from the reality of hedging one's bets."
idiom
- to protect oneself against making the wrong choice
- to try to avoid giving an opinion or choosing only one thing, so that whatever happens in the future one will not have problems or seem stupid
(Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms)
---
WORD ORIGIN
Hedge is a noun that traces back to Old English. It originally referred to a fence, either man-made or one made from plants that serve as a natural barrier. Both the noun and verb evolved over time to mean protection in general in a figurative sense. Webb Garrison, in his book "Why You Say It", explains the phrase this way:
"Hedge. Throughout much of northern Europe, early farmers planted bushes and shrubs to serve as fences and boundary lines. Anglo-Saxons were partial to hawthorn, a row of which they called a 'hege.' It was a sign of caution to plant hawthorn around a field, or to hedge it. Eventually the name of the barrier came to be used in connection with many kinds of safeguards. As a result, we say that a person who puts money on several horses rather than only one hedges his bet. Many a person manages to hedge by avoiding direct promises and unqualified commitments."
Hedging your bets doesn't always pay off. Shortly before the First World War, British politician and horse racing enthusiast Horatio Bottomley came up with a sure way to win a fortune.
Prior to a race at Blackenberghe (in Belgium), Bottomley bought each of six competing horses. He then hired six English jockeys and gave them strict instructions concerning the order in which they were to finish the race. As an added precaution, he placed extra bets on all six horses. According to the story, halfway through the race, a heavy fog blew in from the sea, engulfing the entire course. The judges couldn't see the horses and the jockeys couldn't see one another. The race ended in chaos. Despite hedging his bets, Bottomley lost a fortune and learned not to hedge against Mother Nature.
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"Today we realise that so-called financial experts have been removed from the reality of hedging one's bets."
