bet the farm
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.47 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To be absolutely certain, to have no doubts.
verb
To make a substantial wager or risk.
Example Sentences
- "I'd be surprised if those two are still dating come Christmas, but I'm not betting the farm on a breakup just yet."
- "Since Rupert Murdoch famously bet the farm on Premier League football to rescue Sky TV in 1991, it has been the catnip that has underpinned subscriber loyalty and, even in a far more complicated media landscape, is seen as so vital as to be worth almost any price."
Etymology
Possibly nothing more than a case of real estate as wager stakes, but also plausibly because farmers cannot avoid gambling and the stakes are financial ruin: they must make many decisions (such as which crops to plant each year, and how to manage livestock), and outside factors such as weather or changing commodity markets can dash their hopes. Thus, when making a decision they must ask themselves whether they are confident enough to bet the farm as the wager stakes.