{"id":4589,"date":"2022-06-28T17:44:07","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T17:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=4589"},"modified":"2022-06-28T17:44:07","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T17:44:07","slug":"cant-win-for-losing-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/cant-win-for-losing-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Can't Win for Losing \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you going through a hard time in life where nothing seems to go right for you, no matter how hard you try? You could say, \"<em>I can't win for losing<\/em>,\" to voice your despair at your run of bad luck. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The expression \"<em>can't win for losing<\/em>\" means that you aren't getting ahead in life, and nothing seems to work out for you, no matter how hard you try.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Typically, people will use this expression when feeling demotivated or depressed. It's telling others that you think you will never get something right and you should just give up on trying.<\/p>\n<p>\"<em>Can't win for losing<\/em>\" means that you're on a run of bad luck and everything in your life seems like it's falling apart. It's a way of telling someone that you're in a rut or feeling depressed because you're not getting what you want out of life.<\/p>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve got to stop playing online poker at that crypto casino. I can\u2019t win for losing, and I\u2019m deleting my savings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know what is going wrong with my life right now, but I can\u2019t win for losing. Everything I do keeps going wrong, and I\u2019m ready to give up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Jets are going through a really bad patch in their season. They can\u2019t win for losing right now, and it\u2019s going to be tough for them to get out of this slump.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know why I can\u2019t close any prospects. It\u2019s like I can\u2019t win for losing. Maybe this isn\u2019t the right job for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been out here on the lake fishing all morning and not a single bite. I can\u2019t win for losing. If I don\u2019t hook something in the next 30-minutes, I\u2019m going back to camp.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t win for losing with this. Every time I try to convince her otherwise, she shuts down on me and tries to convince me otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like I can\u2019t win for losing, and it\u2019s starting to make me feel depressed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4590\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Cant-Win-for-Losing.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"224\" height=\"152\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-4591\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Cant-Win-for-Losing2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"224\" height=\"157\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>The expression \u201ccan\u2019t win for losing\u201d originates from 1950s America. The original rendition of the phrase was \u201cyou can\u2019t win\u201d or \u201cI can\u2019t win, and it has the same meaning as \u201ccan\u2019t win for losing.\u201d According to language experts, the phrase changed to the current version of \u201ccan\u2019t win for losing\u201d sometime in the 1960s.<\/p>\n<p>The change added a play on logic to the phrase, making it more popular with people describing a hard time in life or pointing it out in others. The term is still in use today, and you probably hear it from time to time when people describe their bad luck or other people experiencing a rough time in life.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Can&#039;t Win For Losing | Example Sentences | Use of &#039;For&#039;\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Cq4Wq919Px8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Similar to Can't Win for Losing<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Bad juju.<\/li>\n<li>Loser.<\/li>\n<li>Things never go right.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Phrases Opposite to Can't Win for Losing<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Things always turn out okay.<\/li>\n<li>Winning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Can\u2019t win for losing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ways People May Say Can't Win for Losing Incorrectly<\/h2>\n<p>Using the phrase \u201ccan\u2019t win for losing\u201d to describe other people holding you back in life is incorrect. The term describes something you\u2019re doing wrong and that you need to reassess what you are doing to change the outcome.<\/p>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Phrase Can't Win for Losing<\/h2>\n<p>You can use the expression \u201ccan\u2019t win for losing\u201d when you\u2019re telling someone that nothing in your life is going right for you. No matter what you do, everything seems to end badly. The phrase suits professional and social use.<\/p>\n<p>You could tell your friend that you\u2019re having a hard time in life and can\u2019t win for losing. Or you could say to your colleagues that you can\u2019t close anyone and you can\u2019t win for losing with your pitch. It\u2019s a way of expressing that you\u2019re in a bad spot in life, and nothing seems to work out for you, regardless of changing your approach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Are you going through a hard time in life where nothing seems to go right for you, no matter how hard you try? You could say, \"I can't win for losing,\" to voice your despair at your run of bad luck. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression. Meaning The expression \"can't [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4589"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4589"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5091,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4589\/revisions\/5091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}