more power to your elbow
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Possibly an elaboration of more power to you, with the speaker expressing the wish that the person addressed will have more strength to achieve their goal.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /mɔː ˈpaʊə tʊ jə ˈɛlbəʊ/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /mɔɹ ˈpaʊɚ tʊ jɚ ˈɛlboʊ/
- Hyphenation: more pow‧er to your el‧bow
Interjection
[edit]- (British) Used to express admiration of a person coupled with wishes for their continued success in an endeavour of their own choosing: all the best; good luck.
- Synonyms: best of luck, more power to your arm, (Nigeria) more grease to your elbow
- 1959 May, G. F. Fiennes (reviewer), “New Reading on Railways: British Railways Today and Tomorrow. By G. Freeman Allen. Ian Allan. 25s.”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 271:
- Naturally the forms of traction occupy Mr. [Geoffrey] Freeman Allen much of his time and he sits on no fence here; he is an "electrifier", with good reasons advanced—more power to his elbow.
Translations
[edit]used to express admiration of a person coupled with wishes for their continued success in an endeavour of their own choosing
Further reading
[edit]- “more power to a person (also a person’s elbow, arm), phrase” under “power, n.1”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2021. - “more power to someone, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
