horses for courses
/ˈhɔɹsəz fɚ ˈkɔɹsəz/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.15 in modern English
24
Scrabble Score
16
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
phrase
Different people are suited for different jobs or situations; what is fitting in one case may not be fitting in another.
British usage
Example Sentences
- "Not long ago, a group of Thames-side penthouses went up for sale with giveaway Ducati motorbikes worth £13,000 apiece. […] "In many cases giveaways are horses for courses, the inducements matching the styles of properties being marketed," he [David Hollingworth of London and Country Mortgages] adds."
- "Far be it from me to judge what anyone else finds attractive – each to their own, horses for courses, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and any number of similar well-meaning platitudes – but no one's going to start arguing forcefully that Mick [Hucknall]'s ever been 'classically handsome'."
- "Emailed greeting cards and digital photos may be more acceptable now, but are not a substitute for the post on every occasion. "People will still want to pour their heart out in letter or want that special photo of a grandchild. It's horses for courses," he [Alki Manias of NetValue] said."
- "However intense music becomes, there's always a limit to how far it can go. And that limit is marked out by its genre or style. […] It's an age-old rule, this insistence on "horses for courses", but in the modern era many musicians have become impatient with it. They dream of a music that knows no limits, which can do everything, all at once."
- "We must note, too, the good position (third) gained by Esmond as an undeniable instance of the "horses for courses" theory, for Esmond won the Peverill of the Peek Plate on this course two years in succession—1892–3."
- "Almost immediately he went on to press for stricter standardisation in the future, saying that "horses for courses" was a luxury B.R. could not afford and that manufacturers must expect more detailed specifications from railway engineers in the future."
Etymology
An allusion to the fact that a racehorse performs best on a racecourse to which it is specifically suited.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈhɔɹsəz fɚ ˈkɔɹsəz/
- British English: /ˈhɔː(ɹ)sɪz fə ˈkɔːsɪz/
Usage
- British usage