queered my pitch
spoilt my chances
TRANSLATION
queer someone’s pitch = jemandem einen Strich durch die Rechnung machen (DH)
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
When Colin Welland won an Oscar for Chariots of Fire and announced that "the British are coming", he was regarded as having QUEERED HIS PITCH in Hollywood…
(The London Independent Online)
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As Digvijay Singh fights a grim battle to hold on to power, his one-time mentor Arjun Singh has QUEERED HIS PITCH by apologising for the power crisis…
(The Calcutta India Telegraph)
(The London Independent Online)
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As Digvijay Singh fights a grim battle to hold on to power, his one-time mentor Arjun Singh has QUEERED HIS PITCH by apologising for the power crisis…
(The Calcutta India Telegraph)
Did you
know?
queer someone’s pitch
idiom
- to spoil a chance or an opportunity for someone, often on purpose:
(Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
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WORD ORIGIN
This is a British expression with roots in the 19th century English markets and street traders. Pitch, much like an area of ground marked off for a sports event, was (is) the name for a position on a street market where the trader sets up his stall.
The word queer has been used for centuries to mean "peculiar, odd or strange" (and is likely related to the German "quer") Over the last few centuries it has been used as derogatory slang for anything bad, wrong or nasty. The expression 'in Queer Street' is found in the 1811 edition of Francis Grose's A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue and describes when someone is in financial trouble
Thus when combined, to "queer someone’s pitch" described spoiling the business opportunity of other traders. This was accomplished in any number of ways, such as telling customers bad things about a rival trader or yelling louder than the next closest merchant. The expression meanwhile is applied to any situation where a person ruins someone else’s or their own chances at something.
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IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"By mentioning nearly all the points in my presentation, he totally queered my pitch!"
idiom
- to spoil a chance or an opportunity for someone, often on purpose:
(Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
---
WORD ORIGIN
This is a British expression with roots in the 19th century English markets and street traders. Pitch, much like an area of ground marked off for a sports event, was (is) the name for a position on a street market where the trader sets up his stall.
The word queer has been used for centuries to mean "peculiar, odd or strange" (and is likely related to the German "quer") Over the last few centuries it has been used as derogatory slang for anything bad, wrong or nasty. The expression 'in Queer Street' is found in the 1811 edition of Francis Grose's A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue and describes when someone is in financial trouble
Thus when combined, to "queer someone’s pitch" described spoiling the business opportunity of other traders. This was accomplished in any number of ways, such as telling customers bad things about a rival trader or yelling louder than the next closest merchant. The expression meanwhile is applied to any situation where a person ruins someone else’s or their own chances at something.
---
IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS TODAY
say something like:
"By mentioning nearly all the points in my presentation, he totally queered my pitch!"
