Talk:most likely to succeed

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Err, idiomatic? Mglovesfun (talk) 17:49, 31 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

In my ideal world, "most likely to [VP]" would be a snowclone/construction entry or appendix. This is the prototype of such constructions. Until it had gained currency as a catchphrase, it could not have become a snowclone. It is also allusive to high-school yearbooks in the US. It often appears with distinctive punctuation (within quotes or hyphenated).
I think that it is not transparent that it has the specific meaning given as its definition. That meaning seems idiomatic. That the transparent meaning is sufficient sometimes to get a rough idea of what a writer or speaker intends should not per se disqualify it as an idiom if it has more specific meanings. IOW, yes, IMO. DCDuring TALK 18:58, 31 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
FWIW I was most likely to become a politician at my school leaving do, I think in linguistic terms it's still SoP. Mglovesfun (talk) 20:41, 31 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
It's SoP and a mere common collocation. ---> Tooironic 20:22, 13 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Do with it what you will. DCDuring TALK 01:22, 24 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

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most likely to succeed[edit]

Another one that comes up the heading 'no explanation necessary'. If this passes I'm totally creating most likely to blow up a chemical plant. Mglovesfun (talk) 21:32, 18 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Delete. The yearbook info is just encyclopaedic about where this is used. We wouldn't have an entry for no smoking just to remark that it's often seen on restaurant signs. Equinox ◑ 21:36, 18 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Delete precisely per nom. bd2412 T 23:18, 18 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Delete per nomination. — Ungoliant (Falai) 23:56, 18 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Delete per nom. The usage example, "most likely to blow up a chemical plant", doesn't exist anywhere outside of Wiktionary. --Dmol (talk) 00:23, 19 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Just to be explicit: We are deleting this despite the fact that it has clear cultural reference that gives it more meaning than its components. DCDuring TALK 04:52, 19 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Almost any word or phrase has cultural context and implications. Equinox ◑ 14:21, 19 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
No I think it has precisely the meaning of the sum of its parts. I think walk your bike is quite comparable per Equinox (which you DCDuring, nomination for deletion successfully). Mglovesfun (talk) 14:39, 19 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Clearly the term's denotation is SoP. But the term in the potentially idiomatic sense apparently intended is almost always used of a young person for whom there are high expectations of conventional overall success in life, not of just anyone succeeding at just anything. I am not arguing in defense of this particular term, just for making explicit the criteria being applied and for the consistent application of such criteria across entries. I know that no one would want to be excluding terms with regionally or temporally restricted idiomaticity that was not apparent to those outside the place or time. Nor would anyone want to be in the position of assessing the importance, attractiveness, or popularity of the cultural phenomenon, let alone including or excluding items for such reasons. DCDuring TALK 15:15, 19 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Deleted. - -sche (discuss) 21:57, 3 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]


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