victory

(see also SUCCESS.)

bear away the bell To be the winner; to carry off the palm; to be preeminent. The old custom of presenting a golden or silver bell to the winner of a race or other contest is the source of hear away the hell. It can be used interchangeably with hear the bell (EXCELLENCE) when the emphasis is on the sense of being best, rather than first or victorious. Lose the bell, the opposite of bear away the bell, means to ‘be soundly defeated.’

bear the palm To be the best; to win, to come out on top. The allusion is to the practice at the Roman Games of presenting a victorious gladiator or winner of one of the games with a palm branch as a symbol of victory. George Chapman used the phrase in his famous translation of Homer’s Iliad (1611).

bring home the bacon To succeed, to win the prize; to earn the money, to be the breadwinner. Country fairs often had contests in which a greased pig was awarded to whoever could catch it. The phrase probably stems from the custom.

carry the day To win out in a struggle or competition, usually one of some duration, such as a political campaign or legislative tug of war. The phrase carry it ‘to win the battle, bear the palm’ appeared earlier than carry the day, which too was used first in this more literal fighting sense. The expression implies a series of skirmishes of undecided outcome, a seesawing of ascendancy before a definitive result is ascertained.

Garrison finish A spectacular victory against all odds, a finish in any kind of race or contest in which the winner comes from behind at the last possible moment. This expression, in use since 1892, takes its name from Snapper Garrison, a 19th-century American jockey who was known for winning in this manner. Although first applied only to horse racing, the term now denotes an impressive come-from-behind victory in any sport.

get the whetstone To be proclaimed the paramount liar; to receive a prize for telling the greatest falsehood. This expression is derived from medieval lying contests in which the greatest liar was awarded a whetstone to hang around his neck. Thomas Lupton discusses the lying sessions in Too Good to Be True (1580):

Apparently the whetstone, a rock used to sharpen tools, emerged as the prize for this unusual competition because of its figurative association with sharpness.

(Robert Recorde, The Pathway of Knowledge, 1551)

Although get the whetstone is now an obsolete expression, whetstone retains its figurative sense despite its infrequent use in literature since the early 1800s.

take the cake See OUTDOING.

whitewash To prevent the opponents from scoring any points. The idea of “no score” in this informal Americanism is conveyed by the image of a whitewashed ‘clean, having no marks’ scoreboard.