{"id":3186,"date":"2022-05-11T16:30:46","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T16:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=3186"},"modified":"2022-05-11T16:30:46","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T16:30:46","slug":"even-a-broken-clock-is-right-twice-a-day-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/even-a-broken-clock-is-right-twice-a-day-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Even a Broken Clock Is Right Twice a Day \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you looking for a way to describe a person that usually gets things wrong but occasionally says something factually correct? You can use the expression \u201ceven a broken clock is right twice a day<\/em>.\u201d This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n

Meaning<\/h2>\n

The expression \u201ceven a broken clock is right twice a day<\/em>\u201d means that people who usually give out bad information are sometimes right.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Example Usage<\/h2>\n

\u201cMike is a lousy gambler, and he always bets the wrong side, but he won this weekend with that bet on the Eagles game. I guess even a broken clock is right twice a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally, you can\u2019t believe a word Suzie says; she\u2019s always spouting disinformation. She got it right today, though, and it looks like even a broken clock is right twice a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen a market correspondent get things wrong as often as Denis Gartman. However, he called the top right this time. I guess even a broken clock is right twice a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTim never calls it right. He\u2019s the worst judge on the panel. But he got it right this weekend, proving that even a broken clock is right twice a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Origin<\/h2>\n

The origin of the expression \u201ceven a broken clock is right twice a day\u201d comes from the 1700s. It first appeared in a magazine, \u201cThe Spectator,\u201d published by Richard Steele and Joseph Addison in 1711, where it appears as follows.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf instead of running after the mode, they would continue fixed in one certain habit, the mode would come time or other overtake them, as a clock that stands still is sure to point right once in twelve hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 1880 novel \u201cPious Frauds,\u201d written by Albany de Grenier Fonblanque, used the following expression.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven a stopped clock is right, we know, twice in the twenty-four hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The phrase would also appear in \u201cSpeaker\u2019s Encyclopedia of Stories, Quotations, and Anecdotes,\u201d written by Jacob M. Braude in 1955, where it appears as follows.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo man\u2019s advice is entirely worthless. Even a watch that won\u2019t run is right twice a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Illinois newspaper published a version of the expression in an article referencing the work of Herbert V. Prochnow in 1967, where it appears as follows.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven a stopped clock is right twice every day. After some years, it can boast of a long series of successes. Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach.\u201d<\/p>\n