what are the odds
23
7.8
- idiom
:
qué probabilidades hay
- I mean, what are the odds?
- what are the odds of happening
- what are the odds of getting
- mean, what are the odds
I mean, what are the odds he wrote down a phone number correctly?
- I mean, what are the odds he wrote down a phone number correctly?
- Now you tell me, what are the odds?
- If you try hard enough to change someone, what are the odds that you would lose yourself?
- And what are the odds of her coming back?
- Now, tying this all together, what are the odds?
- And people can laugh about it, poo poo it, but what are the odds?
- So where do we stand today on wage inflation and what are the odds of wage inflation potentially falling?
- I go, what are the odds that like I, that girl is related to that woman?
- What Michael Warabee's argument is, is that, well, what are the odds of that, that we're seeing this amplification in the market?
- But what are the odds of the person who's in the plays, best friend or brother sitting right next to me?
Examples
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Given the amount of atoms in the universe, what are the odds one of those atoms is now a part of me?
Blog text (34) -
It was such a coincidence; what are the odds of winning the lottery twice?
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Look, what are the odds of that?
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If you try hard enough to change someone, what are the odds that you would lose yourself?
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And what are the odds of her coming back?
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I mean, what are the odds of that?
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But what are the odds of it happening, really?
Blog text (1) -
But just what are the odds of your survival if you were in a plane crash?
Blog text (21) -
Hey, what are the odds of a reasonably educated single man being at this thing?
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What are the odds of a car crash and a plane crash in one family in one day?
Fiction book (1999)
Antonyms
How Likely
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward wh-question composed of 'what' (question word) + 'are' (copula) + 'the' + 'odds' (likelihood), so a learner who knows these words can derive that it asks about probability. The rhetorical use to express surprise at an unlikely event is also predictable from the core meaning of 'odds' and common pragmatic use.
Etymology
The question what are the odds comes from games and betting, where odds are the chances that something will happen. So when people say 'what are the odds', they are asking 'how likely is this?', often to show surprise when something unlikely happens.