on a roll
42
5.6
- idiom
- Informal
:
en racha
- The team is on a roll, winning their last five games in a row.
Or I've just been on a roll and things are going great.
- Or I've just been on a roll and things are going great.
- I was, I was on a roll, wasn't, I was really doing something.
- I guess we'll just stick with L'Oreal stuff while we're on a roll.
- Why is it when you're on a roll and you have momentum that it's just easier to keep going?
- And you're kind of on a roll, you're leveraging those changes and you're getting even more in.
Examples
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Darvish finished the season on a roll and was unquestionably the Rangers' best pitcher down the stretch.
Blog text (29) -
Utah: The Utes are on a roll now that they have Travis Wilson as quarterback.
Blog text (10) -
- You are on a roll my friend.
-
No, you were really on a roll there.
-
Maybe you are on a roll here or something.
-
Oh, come on, just last week you said you were on a roll.
Fiction book (2000) -
Just the team that is on a roll and has a little luck.
Blog text (31) -
I'm on a roll here.
-
The boys in the back row were on a roll all semester.
Fiction book (1991) -
When you're on a roll, everything comes easy; you put very little thought into the game.
Academic text (1995)
Antonyms
How Successful
Surface Forms
Morphology
on + a + roll
The phrase relies on a metaphorical extension of 'roll' (continuous movement/momentum) so there is a plausible link to a sequence of successes, but the specific sense 'experiencing continuous success or luck' is not directly or predictably derived from the literal meanings of 'on' + 'a' + 'roll' by an average B1 learner. The underlying concept (a streak of success) is common cross-linguistically, yet the mapping to 'roll' is idiomatic enough that prior exposure or explanation is typically needed.
Etymology
On a roll may come from playing with dice: when the dice kept rolling good numbers, the player kept winning. So, being on a roll today means 'doing very well for a time'.