Monday-morning quarterback
1
8.9
- noun
- /ˈmʌndeɪ ˈmɔrnɪŋ ˈkwɔrtərbæk/
- Offensive
:
crítico de sofá
- After the election, many became Monday-morning quarterbacks, questioning the strategies that led to the loss.
Examples
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To see how the armchair, Monday morning quarterbacks who criticize Mr. Sawyer's lawsuit would behave had it been them who were arrested in their own front yards based upon a lie told by a car salesman.
Blog text (21) -
You were all over Mitchell before he got stopped; now you are being a Monday morning quarterback with no balls.
Blog text (34) -
There's a 'fog of war' in training exercises, as every Monday morning quarterback (another Secretary Panetta remark) and lance corporal and second lieutenant well knows.
Blog text (21) -
Adrian, I am very leery of who guys look "skillful against," and like I said, you are being a Monday morning quarterback. No one said that Mitchell was the next coming, but he booked solid wins for a prospect against Ibragimov and Witherspoon via stoppage.
Blog text (34) -
It's easy to be a Monday-morning quarterback when you see the game highlights and know what decisions could have been better.
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She always acts like a Monday-morning quarterback, offering criticism after the team has already lost the match.
Synonyms
563
3.0
A person who often finds fault and speaks harshly about others
3
8.9
A person who says what should have been done after they know what happened
1
8.8
A person who gives advice and criticism without experience, often about sports and politics
A person who complains about others instead of helping
How Critical
- Offensive
- Offensive
1
8.9
- Offensive
1
8.8
314
3.2
- Literature
217
3.5
305
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
Monday-morning + quarterback
The phrase combines the temporal phrase 'Monday-morning' (after the event) with 'quarterback' (the decision-making player), so the meaning is a metaphorical extension: someone who criticizes or second-guesses decisions in hindsight. This relies on cultural knowledge of American football and a figurative use of roles, so a B1 learner who only knows the literal words might partly infer the idea but would likely miss the idiomatic nuance, making it only partially transparent.
Etymology
Monday-morning quarterback (noun) comes from American football. After weekend games, people on Monday say how the quarterback should have played now that they know the result, so the term means 'someone who criticizes or gives advice after the event'.