to don't have a prayer
5
8.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
no tienes ninguna oportunidad
- CRUTCHY hobbles as fast as he can, but he doesn't have a prayer.
I am the CEO of my company and don't have a prayer in getting hired by it.
- I am the CEO of my company and don't have a prayer in getting hired by it.
- And every time I see the workers out there, my heart breaks, you know, because they really don't have a prayer if they just keep being hard working people.
- And so you and I don't have a prayer because money makes the world go round and the economy runs on money, like it or not.
Examples
-
Hated to do it, throw in the towel, but this was the fifteenth round and she didn't have a prayer.
Fiction book (1992) -
I am the CEO of my company and don't have a prayer in getting hired by it.
-
And so you and I don't have a prayer because money makes the world go round and the economy runs on money, like it or not.
-
And every time I see the workers out there, my heart breaks, you know, because they really don't have a prayer if they just keep being hard working people.
-
You guys in Illinois don't have a prayer as both sides are crooked.
Blog text (5) -
The Newsies fight desperately, but they don't have a prayer against the armed adults.
Fiction book (1992) -
Without studying, you don't have a prayer of passing the exam.
-
If we don't have a prayer, we won't win the championship.
-
She knew she didn't have a prayer of getting the job without experience.
Synonyms
43
4.1
Not successful when you try to get something you want
Not possible or allowed
How Likely
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts ('don't' = negation, 'have' = possess/experience, 'prayer' = a plea or hope) allow a sensible metaphorical inference: 'to have a prayer' -> to have any hope or chance, so 'don't have a prayer' -> no chance. However, this relies on a cultural/metaphorical mapping from 'prayer' to 'chance' that is not strictly compositional and may not be immediately predictable to a B1 learner without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The idiom don't have a prayer comes from the old idea that a prayer could help or save someone, so if you don't have a prayer it means not even a prayer can help. That's why the phrase means 'to have no chance at all'.