Fat and slim are opposites. Make it make sense.
Fat chance is ironic, slim chance is not. it’s just that nobody uses fat chance in a non sarcastic manner.
Wait until you find out a grill utensil is called a spatula but a tool to mix baking ingredients is also called a spatula.
This is how I felt when I tried to win an argument about ‘deceptively deep’ and found that usage was subjective and that ‘deceptively shallow’ could be used interchangeably
They’re not the same though. “Fat” chance carries lard/tallow which can burn, so it is flammable. “Slim” chance has no lards or greases to burn, therefore it is “inflammable”. /s
Irregardless, it’s confusing when opposites mean the same thing.
Yes, for all intensive purposes.
I’m only upvoting you through my narrowed eyes because I hate you so much. lol
Fat chance is sarcastic, slim chance is direct
Yeah, no.
…what? No, sorry, I was offering another example, not replying to your salient point. ;-)
That ones slightly different though, because that “yeah” means “OK” or “uh”, not “yes” in this context. Its just a way to give your brain extra time to think of a response.
pedantic, yes, but I enjoy that
Because fat chance is said sarcastically
They dont.
because the persons who came up with those phrases were Biggie Smalls and FatBoy Slim
🎵Biggie Smalls is celibate in hell, celibate in hell, celibate in hell 🎵
“Are you up for it?” and “Are you down for it?” both mean the same thing too
Things can burn up and down at the same time.
Gotta get up to get down
Full sayings:
- slim chance
- fat chance in hell
The “in hell” gets dropped from fat chance making the colloquialism confusing.
This is similar to the “blood is thicker than water” shortening of “the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb”, people who have always heard the first one often use it as an argument for " family sticks together "; when the saying really means the bonds we form of our own choosing are stronger than any presumed by family.
Fat and slim are both as far from the middle of the Gaussian;
A fat chance means the odds are so wide it would be impossible. Like, you have so many slim chances at once on different factors for it to remotely work.
A slim chance means the odds are tight but there is an actual chance on a single factor.
One slim chance is better than 40 slim chances focused on a single goal, so fat chance.
When I use slim chance, I actually will try it if it isn’t going to work and it wouldn’t hurt to try.
Fat chance means you shouldn’t bother to try it. The stars would have to perfectly align.
Fat Chance is pretty much always sarcastic. However most other common sarcastic phrases are also used sincerely, so it’s actually kind of unique. You could say Phat Chance though which would probably be sincere.
Those expressions are stupid anyway. Say high/low probability instead.
You want me to use a 5 syllable word when a 1 syllable word will do? Fat chance!
You can’t buy bread with syllables, no need to save them :)
Never tell me the odds.
Odds
Not sure if against the rules, but you’re a stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerfherder.
According to this stackexchange:
fat chance is like a cynical no chance:
You think you can win the lottery? Fat Chance.
slim chance is when there is a small possibility. It does not infer any hidden meaning.
Even though I did not study, there is a slim chance that I will pass the test.
Plus language evolves organically and isn’t always perfectly logical and consistent.
