dark horse

English

Etymology

Originally an allusion to an unknown horse winning a race, as used in an 1831 novel The Young Duke by Benjamin Disraeli: ″[...] and a dark horse, which had never been thought of, [...] rushed past the grand stand in sweeping triumph.″

Noun

Wikipedia

dark horse (plural dark horses)

1. Someone who possesses talents or qualities that are not known or expected by others.
   • 2009, Sophie Kinsella, Twenties Girl, quoted edition: London: Black Swan, 2010, ISBN 978 0 5527 7437 6, page 183:

     ′Well!′ Genevieve laughs – the kind of bright, trilling laugh you give when you’re really quite annoyed about something. ′Ed, you are a dark horse! I had no idea you had a girlfriend!′

2. (idiomatic, politics) A candidate who is nominated unexpectedly, without previously having been discussed or considered as a likely choice.
3. (rare) An unexpected success.

   Everyone was expecting the red team to win, but the greens were the dark horse in the event.

Translations

in politics

• Chinese: 黑马 (hēimǎ)
• Finnish: musta hevonen (fi)

• Japanese: 惑星 (ja) (わくせい, wakusei)
• Russian: тёмная лошадка (ru) (tjómnaja lošadka)

an unexpected success

• Chinese: 黑马 (hēimǎ)
• Finnish: musta hevonen (fi)

• Icelandic: (to be a dark horse) leyna á sér
• Russian: тёмная лошадка (ru) (tjómnaja lošadka)