better luck next time
1
4.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
mejor suerte la próxima vez
- She smiled and said, 'Better luck next time,' after he missed the last shot.
Examples
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After the game, the coach encouraged the players, saying, 'Better luck next time.'
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Too bad, so sorry, better luck next time.
Blog text (18) -
Don't worry about your test results; just remember, better luck next time!
Synonyms
461
1.0
Do something one more time after you fail
12
4.8
Good to try something even if it may not work
Try again to do something after failing
To wish someone good luck when the result depends on chance
How Successful
∞
1.0
- Informal
∞
1.0
- Informal
1
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase's meaning — wishing someone more fortunate outcomes on a subsequent occasion — is directly and compositionally derived from 'better' (improved), 'luck' (fortune), 'next' (subsequent) and 'time' (occasion). This conventionalized, literal combination is cross-linguistically common and would be immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Better luck next time may come from friendly words people said at games and contests when someone lost. They wished that the person's luck would be better the next time, so today the phrase means 'encouragement' to 'try again'.