minor miracle
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]minor miracle (plural minor miracles)
- (idiomatic) An improbable, unexpected, or surprising achievement or other occurrence that is fortunate and agreeable.
- 1874, Sir Richard Francis Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, Volume 1, page 193:
- When the vessel showed some symptoms of unsteadiness, I arose, walked gravely up to her, ranged the pilgrims around her with their shoulders to the sides, and told them to heave with might. . . . Each Maghrabi worked like an Atlas . . . and, sliding heavily through the sand, once more floated off into deep water. This was generally voted a minor miracle, and the Effendi was respected—for a day or two.
- 1940 September 30, “Radio: Believers in Fur”, in Time, retrieved 4 August 2016:
- Last week over a CBS network Robert Ripley reunited after 40 years a mother and her long-lost son. Having accomplished this minor miracle, Ripley changed the pace of his Believe It Or Not show.
- 1970 January, “AMC Javelin 390 SST”, in Car and Driver, retrieved 4 August 2016:
- The engineers at AMC have wrought a minor miracle in modifying this archaic transmission so that it is merely inconvenient instead of being an outright disappointment.
- 1998 March 8, Clifford Krauss, “Dialing for Dollars in Brazil's Telephone Privatization”, in New York Times, retrieved 4 August 2016:
- The country's telephone service, however, is another matter. Getting a dial tone and holding a conversation free of static are minor miracles.
- 2009 March 30, Marcus Armytage, “Racing Diary”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 4 August 2016:
- Richard Dunwoody . . . did however perform one minor miracle; managing to eat a bowl of cereal on horseback while looking at the camera and still finding his mouth with the spoon without spillage.
Usage notes
[edit]Synonyms
[edit]Translations
[edit]improbable, unexpected, or surprising achievement or other occurrence that is fortunate and agreeable
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