{"id":8490,"date":"2022-08-02T09:38:11","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T13:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/?p=8490"},"modified":"2022-08-02T09:38:11","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T13:38:11","slug":"what-are-the-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/what-are-the-odds\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the odds?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hi, everyone! August is rolling in, how has your year been so far? <strong>I hope the odds are in your favor!\u00a0<\/strong>Today&#8217;s post will look into this fascinating word in the English and its many possibilities: <strong>odds<\/strong>. The ideia came to me when I was walking down the street the other day and I came across a 10 euro bill! I&#8217;m sure we all like finding some unexpected money, but I mean, <strong>what are the odds<\/strong>, right?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8499\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8499\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-8499\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2022\/08\/pexels-drew-rae-1871508-350x220.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"350\" height=\"220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2022\/08\/pexels-drew-rae-1871508-350x220.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2022\/08\/pexels-drew-rae-1871508.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8499\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Do you think my odds are good? (Photo by Drew Rae from Pexels)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>After that fortuitous experience, I could focus on what truly matters: the incredible English language. So I started thinking of the different ways we can use the word <strong>odds <\/strong>and I&#8217;ve rounded them up for us today, along with some meaningful phrases and collocations. Let&#8217;s go for it!<\/p>\n<p>So let&#8217;s start with the basic definition:<\/p>\n<p>Very useful in a casino, but frequently used figuratively, <strong>ODDS<\/strong> describe the probabitly of a certain outcome, the chance or likelihood for something to happen:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>After the corruption scandals, the <strong>odds<\/strong> on her being reelected are slim.<\/li>\n<li>If you keep driving while intoxicated, the <strong>odds<\/strong> are that you be involved in an accident soon.<\/li>\n<li>It&#8217;s been cloudy all day. <strong>Odds<\/strong> are that it will rain later.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>odds<\/strong>\u00a0<span class=\"b db\">of<\/span>\u00a0winning the lottery\u00a0is like 1 in a million. It&#8217;s just not worth it.\n<p><div id=\"attachment_8500\" style=\"width: 243px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8500\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-8500\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2022\/08\/pexels-vlad-chetan-2923156-233x350.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"233\" height=\"350\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2022\/08\/pexels-vlad-chetan-2923156-233x350.jpg 233w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2022\/08\/pexels-vlad-chetan-2923156.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 233px) 100vw, 233px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8500\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><\/em> <em>After faliling multiple times, Phil managed to beat the odds and become a thriving business owner) Photo by Vlad Che\u021ban from Pexels)<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note: do not mistake it for <strong>ODD<\/strong>, which is used to refer to something unusual or strange<em> (i.e. Isn&#8217;t it odd that your mother never pays us a visit?).<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Phrases, collocations and idioms:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>AGAINST ALL ODDS\/ TO BEAT THE ODDS<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Contrary to probability or expectation<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Against all odds<\/b>, he worked his way through college and got himself a law degree.<\/li>\n<li>The underdogs were able to win the championship <strong>against all odds<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>As a woman from a poor family, she managed to <strong>beat the odds<\/strong> and build a succesful career in politics.<\/li>\n<li>Although most restaurants go bankrupt within a year, Papa&#8217;s Bistro <strong>beat the odds<\/strong> and has been popular for a decade.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>THE ODDS ARE (STACKED) AGAINST<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When something is unlikely to happen:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Our best player has got a broken leg and our coach is sick. The <strong>odds are<\/strong> definitely <strong>against us<\/strong> on the match.<\/li>\n<li>After losing our most important account and failing to get that promotion, I feel like the <strong>odds are stacked up<\/strong> against Jim.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_8501\" style=\"width: 293px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft post-item__attachment\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8501\" class=\" wp-image-8501\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2022\/08\/pexels-timur-weber-8560383-350x234.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"283\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2022\/08\/pexels-timur-weber-8560383-350x234.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2022\/08\/pexels-timur-weber-8560383.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 283px) 100vw, 283px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-8501\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">They&#8217;ve been frequently at odds with each other lately (Photo by Timur Weber)<\/p><\/div>\n<h3><strong>TO BE AT ODDS<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>to be in disagreement or conflict with someone<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tensions are rising because the two countries have been <strong>at odds<\/strong> for the past few years.<\/li>\n<li>The couple was always <strong>at odds<\/strong> over financial issues.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Are you familiar with any other ways to use the word <strong>odds<\/strong>? Leave your comment below and let us know.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Stick around for more next time! Odds are that we&#8217;ll learn a lot of new things.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"234\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2022\/08\/pexels-timur-weber-8560383-350x234.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2022\/08\/pexels-timur-weber-8560383-350x234.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/31\/2022\/08\/pexels-timur-weber-8560383.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Hi, everyone! August is rolling in, how has your year been so far? I hope the odds are in your favor!\u00a0Today&#8217;s post will look into this fascinating word in the English and its many possibilities: odds. The ideia came to me when I was walking down the street the other day and I came across&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/what-are-the-odds\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":8501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[134956,135139,135370],"tags":[554204,554208,554209,554161,554207,554206,554205],"class_list":["post-8490","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english-grammar","category-english-language","category-english-vocabulary","tag-against-all-odds","tag-be-at-odds","tag-beat-the-odds","tag-english-vocab","tag-odds-english","tag-odds-meaning","tag-what-are-the-odds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8490"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8503,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8490\/revisions\/8503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}