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shot in the dark

Meaning: A guess, often wild or based on little information.

Language: English

Literally: (Already vivid in English)

Category: The Absurd

Origin: The expression suggests that the probability of a correct guess is as small as the probability of hitting something that one shoots at in the dark.

More idioms — The Absurd

  • sleep like a log — To sleep so soundly that noise doesn't wake the person.
  • snowball's chance in hell — No chance at all.
  • sow one's wild oats — To do foolish or wild things, usually as a youth.
  • speak of the devil — An expression used when someone who is being talked about has just appeared.
  • strange bedfellows — People or things that one does not normally expect to find together.
  • strike it rich — To make money (sentence 1); or, less literally, to be wildly successful (sentence 2).

More English idioms

  • sit tight — To wait quietly and patiently, often in an anxious situation.
  • sitting pretty — In a good or advantageous situation; living comfortably.
  • let someone or something slip through someone's fingers — To lose something because one takes too much time to consider the situation.
  • slow burn — To be quietly angry.
  • slow off the mark — Slow [or quick] to understand a situation.
  • sour grapes — A situation where a person criticizes something or someone out of jealousy.

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