they blew it
they failed when they could have succeeded
TRANSLATION
to blow something = scheitern, vermasseln, versauen --- GOOGLE INDEX blow/blew it: approximately 6,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Alex Ferguson: Manchester United Can't BLOW IT...Or I'm In Trouble
(The Daily Star - news headline)
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Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg says that women of her generation BLEW IT and that hope for real female equality lies in the current generation of college graduates.
(The Daily Star - news headline)
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Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg says that women of her generation BLEW IT and that hope for real female equality lies in the current generation of college graduates.
Did you
know?
(to) blow something
informal
- to spoil your chance of achieving something you want because of something you do or say
(Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms)
---
To blow something describes failing at something or handling something poorly when presented with a chance or an opportunity.
This probably stems from the expression to "blow up", which means to explode and not function anymore (My car's engine blew up on the way to work this morning).
The verb to blow is used in a wide range of other phrases and expressions, such as:
- blow a gasket/blow one's cool = to become enraged (When she found out her flight was cancelled, she blew a gasket/blew her cool)
- blow off steam = to release pent-up emotions (Sorry I yelled. I'm just blowing off steam)
- blow one's cover = to reveal one's real identity (Someone blew my cover on an Internet forum)
- blow one's mind = to overwhelm one with wonder or bafflement (That film just blew my mind)
- blow smoke = to speak idly, misleadingly, or boastfully (The telemarketer said I won a free vacation, but he was just blowing smoke)
- blow the whistle = to call public or official attention to a secret wrongdoing (Someone blew the whistle on the club president who was stealing money)
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SYNONYMS
botch, bungle, drop the ball, fail, fall short, flop, screw up, mess up, ruin one's chance, foul up
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"They blew it by submitting the contract bid too late."
informal
- to spoil your chance of achieving something you want because of something you do or say
(Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms)
---
To blow something describes failing at something or handling something poorly when presented with a chance or an opportunity.
This probably stems from the expression to "blow up", which means to explode and not function anymore (My car's engine blew up on the way to work this morning).
The verb to blow is used in a wide range of other phrases and expressions, such as:
- blow a gasket/blow one's cool = to become enraged (When she found out her flight was cancelled, she blew a gasket/blew her cool)
- blow off steam = to release pent-up emotions (Sorry I yelled. I'm just blowing off steam)
- blow one's cover = to reveal one's real identity (Someone blew my cover on an Internet forum)
- blow one's mind = to overwhelm one with wonder or bafflement (That film just blew my mind)
- blow smoke = to speak idly, misleadingly, or boastfully (The telemarketer said I won a free vacation, but he was just blowing smoke)
- blow the whistle = to call public or official attention to a secret wrongdoing (Someone blew the whistle on the club president who was stealing money)
---
SYNONYMS
botch, bungle, drop the ball, fail, fall short, flop, screw up, mess up, ruin one's chance, foul up
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"They blew it by submitting the contract bid too late."
