one should be so lucky
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Calque of Yiddish מען זאָל זיין אזוי מזלדיק (men zol zeyn azoy mazldik, “one should be so lucky”)
Phrase
[edit]- (informal, sarcastic) It is highly doubtful: indicating that something is not likely to happen to the person specified.
- 1970, The New York Times Biographical Service, New York Times & Arno Press, page 660:
- So now I'm the Beverly Sills of Broadway, right? Hah! I should be so lucky!
- 1971, Equal Rights for Men and Women 1971: Hearings, Ninety-second Congress, First Session, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 131:
- I laugh uncontrollably when I meet women who say, "What if we get equal rights; we'll all be drafted!" My reply is, "You should be so lucky." The male-dominated military are not about to open their last sanctuary to 51 percent of the population.
- 1983, Larry Ketron, Asian Shade, Dramatists Play Service, page 37:
- I play my heart out. To have me on his team, he should be so lucky. That's right. When I get chosen, I give everything.
- 1988, Jack Kugelmass, editor, Between Two Worlds, Cornell University Press, page 311:
- "You take pictures in here and you're liable to get a rat in one of them!" "I should be so lucky. I've been trying for years to get a picture of a rat at the Intervale Jewish Center without any luck. They refuse to pose."
Translations
[edit]it is highly doubtful
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See also
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “one should be so lucky”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- “I should be so lucky”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
- “you should be so lucky”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.