snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory

English

Etymology

Ironic reversal of a similar idiom, to snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat, with the opposite meaning.

Verb

snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory

1. (humorous) To fail to achieve an expected success, especially through counterproductive intervention.
   • 1942, United States. Army. Chemical Warfare Service, News Letter, page 3:

     "The Germans," he remarked, "have the uncanny ability to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory."

   • 1959, Jules Abels, Out of the Jaws of Victory, New York, Holt:

     The quip attributed to prominent New Dealer Paul Porter that "Dewey snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory" sums up that feeling.

   • 1988, Professional Journal of the United States Army, page 66:

     According to them, whatever mistakes took place were made exclusively by Hitler, a leader who not only ran strategy, but also insisted on intervening in operational decisions to the point that time after time, he managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

   • 1990, Steven E. Woodworth, Jefferson Davis and His Generals: The Failure of Confederate Command in the West, page 101:

     He would probably not have been guilty of the failures of resolve by which his successors repeatedly snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory.

   • 2009 December 11, Thomas M. Carsey, Campaign Dynamics: The Race for Governor, University of Michigan Press, →ISBN, page 101:

     Whitman nearly managed to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory by allowing Florio to define her as out of touch and unfit for the governorship. She followed one mistake with another, allowing her own events like the release of her tax-cut plan to be turned against her while turning what should have been minor blips into major gaffes.

   • 2013 September 13, Michael Handel, Intelligence and Military Operations, Routledge, →ISBN, page 84:

     It is tempting to suggest that the Luftwaffe's poor intelligence caused it to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

   • 2022 May 13, Nick Lee Thamer, Average Doesn't Take Much Effort, Dare to Be Great, Christian Faith Publishing, Inc., →ISBN:

     Coaches and managers, every year, assault these two codes of conduct with impunity and by doing so manage to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Translations

to fail to achieve success