miss the boat

English

Etymology

Allusion to failing to catch a boat in time, effectively “missing” the boat. Popular since the 1920s.

Verb

miss the boat (third-person singular simple present misses the boat, present participle missing the boat, simple past and past participle missed the boat)

1. (intransitive) To fail to take advantage of an opportunity; to overlook or be too late to pursue an option or course of action.

   The price discount ended yesterday and I just missed the boat on a great deal.

   As for food delivery technology, our company missed the boat, the harbor, and the ocean.

Synonyms

• that ship has sailed
• miss out

Translations

fail to take advantage of an opportunity

• American Sign Language: (TRAIN) 1@NearHand-FingerUp-1@InsideChesthigh-FingerUp 1@NearHand-FingerForward-1@DistalInsideChesthigh-FingerForward A@Chest-PalmBack CirclesVert (TRAIN GO SORRY)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 錯過機會／错过机会 (cuòguò jīhuì)

• Dutch: de boot missen
• Finnish: myöhästyä junasta (miss the train)
• French: manquer le coche (fr), rater le coche (fr)
• Icelandic: verða af tækifæri
• Italian: perdere il treno
• Russian: по́езд ушёл (pójezd ušól) (lit.: the train is gone), в пролёте (v proljóte) (colloquial)
• Spanish: perder el tren