Long Shot vs. Long Chalk

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hello, how are you?

My name is Peter.

I’m calling from lovely Cranford, New Jersey.

Welcome to the show, Peter.

What’s up?

I have a question about idiomatic expressions, specifically idiomatic expressions in the United States and England.

You know, George Burnett Shaw said that the United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language.

And I got to live there for a little less than a year back in the 1980s.

And so some things are, you know, some words are like everyone knows that chips mean french fries and lift as elevator.

But then you get to things like gobsmacked and who knows what that means or Bob’s your uncle.

But particularly, here’s my question.

We say in this country not by a long shot.

And there they say not by a long chalk.

Now, I assume they mean the same thing, but I haven’t a clue why there’s a difference and why shot and chalk.

Where did you encounter not by a long chalk?

Well, you would say to somebody, you know, did you win the race?

And they would say not by a long chalk.

Okay.

Yeah, that’s a good example.

A long chalk refers to a way of keeping score originally.

In British pubs dating back centuries, people would make marks on the wall or wherever with

Chalk to keep score for games like darts or to keep track of bar tabs. And so a long chalk is a

Long series of tick marks showing your score. So not by a long chalk means you have a long way to

Go to catch up or there’s a big distance between what you want and what you have but typically

These days you’ll only find the chalk marks used for darts and not on the walls probably on a

On a slate or something like that right as early as the 1833 in the u.s and the uk you can

Find not by a long chalk used in both the u.s and the uk but it dropped out of use in the u.s

Very quickly. Probably

It was British influence in the first place

In the U.S.

Longshot is pretty straightforward.

It’s talking about the difficulty of making

A shot with any

Kind of weapon, be it

Fired with gunpowder or bow and arrow

Or what have you. A couple hundred years on that

Both in the U.S. And the U.K.

Yeah, so they’re both very straightforward.

Yeah, both very straightforward.

Once you know what the chalk is about, then it’s straightforward.

It might

Not be clear to people that we’re saying C-H-A-L-K. We’re talking about the white stuff that you use to

Draw with or color with, not C-H-O-C-K. Like on the cliffs of Dover.

Right. Exactly. Cliffs of Dover. Peter, thank you so much for your call. Really appreciate it,

Man. Call us again sometime. Well, let me just say I’m gobsmacked by the answer.

Yeah, that means you’re hit in the face. Yeah. There you go.

You’re gob. Bob’s your uncle. Talk to you later.

Bye. Thanks, Peter.