Luck In, Luck Out – Writing Tips Plus

  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to "About this site"
luck in, luck out

Today, contrary to logic, the informal expression luck out means to be in luck.

  • I really lucked out when I found that six-room apartment for only $300 a month.

Very few people now use the older expression luck in (dating from the Second World War) to mean to have good luck, with its opposite luck out meaning to have bad luck.

However, you should avoid confusion by using lucky or unlucky, fortunate or unfortunate to express what you mean.

Copyright notice for Writing Tips Plus

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement A tool created and made available online by the Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada

Want to learn more about a theme discussed on this page? Click on a link below to see all the pages on the Language Portal of Canada that relate to the theme you selected. The search results will be displayed in Language Navigator.

  • Grammar and syntax
  • Verbs
  • Vocabulary
  • Expressions and sayings
  • Writing Tips Plus (home page)
  • Writing tools
  • Language Navigator (for fast access to language tips)
  • TERMIUM Plus®
Date modified: 2020-02-28

The Language Portal’s navigation menu

  • Search with Language Navigator
  • A-Z Writing Tips Plus index
  • Writing Tips Plus sections
  • Other resources on the Language Portal
  • Top of page
  • Start tutorial
  • Move navigation menu right

Language Navigator searches through the Language Portal of Canada’s resources to help you quickly find answers to questions about language or writing, in English and French.

Keyword(s) (required) Language resources - All - English tools -Favourite Articles -HyperGrammar 2 -Peck’s English Pointers -Word Tailoring -Writing Tips Plus French tools -Chroniques de langue -Clés de la rédaction -ConjugArt -Dictionnaire des cooccurrences -Juridictionnaire -Le Rouleau des prépositions -Les mots du droit -Lexique analogique Quizzes on the Language Portal of Canada The Our Languages Blog Other resources Search

Search in the Writing Tips Plus index.

  • A letter B letter C letter D letter E letter F letter G letter H letter I letter J letter K letter L letter M letter N letter O letter P letter Q letter R letter S letter T letter U letter V letter W letter X letter Y letter Z

Click on a section to see all the articles on a given topic.

  • Correspondence and addresses
  • Inclusive writing
  • English tools
    • Writing Tips Plus
    • HyperGrammar 2
    • Peck’s English Pointers
    • Favourite Articles
    • Word Tailoring
  • French tools
    • Clés de la rédaction
    • Dictionnaire des cooccurrences
    • Le Rouleau des prépositions
    • Chroniques de langue
    • ConjugArt
    • Lexique analogique
    • Juridictionnaire
    • Les mots du droit
  • The Our Languages Blog
  • Quizzes on the Language Portal of Canada

Tag » What Does Lucked Out Mean