now or never

See also: now-or-never

English

WOTD – 14 February 2025

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌnaʊ‿ə ˈnɛvə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌnaʊ‿əɹ ˈnɛvəɹ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛvə(ɹ)

Adverb

now or never (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic, set phrase) At this sole opportunity or time, or not at all.
   • 1709 July 18 (Gregorian calendar), Jenny Distaff [pseudonym; Richard Steele], “Thursday, July 7, 1709”, in The Tatler, number 38; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume I, London: I. Walker and Co.;  […], 1822, →OCLC, page 232:

     [A]s you tender the welfare of your country, I entreat you not to forget or delay so public-spirited a work. Now or never is the time.

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • 1855, Charles Kingsley, “What Befel at La Guayra”, in Westward Ho!: Or, The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight, […], volume II, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 309:

     "Come off, now or never," cried Amyas, clutching him by the arm, and dragging him away like a child.

   • 1932 August 17, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter 13, in Hot Water, Woodstock; New York, N.Y.: The Overlook Press, published 2003, →ISBN, section 2, page 209:

     This was the moment when he must put his fortune to the test, to win or lose it all. Now or never must the balloon go up.

   • 1960 April 3 (date recorded), Wally Gold, Aaron Schroeder, Eduardo di Capua (lyrics and music), “It’s Now or Never”, performed by Elvis Presley, New York, N.Y.: RCA Victor, published 5 July 1960, →OCLC:

     It's now or never / Come hold me tight / Kiss me my darling / Be mine tonight / Tomorrow will be too late / It's now or never / My love won't wait

   • 1975 March 12 (date recorded), Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson (lyrics and music), “Mamma Mia”, in ABBA, performed by ABBA, New York, N.Y.: Atlantic Records, published 21 April 1975, →OCLC:

     Mamma mia, even if I say / "Bye-bye", leave me now or never / Mamma mia, it's a game we play / Bye-bye doesn't mean forever

   • 2021 April 29, Jamie Jackson, “Edinson Cavani and Bruno Fernandes help Manchester United hit Roma for six”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎^[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-10-03:

     There had been a sense of now or never about this semi-final for United. Another elimination would be a fifth last-four reverse under the manager and serious questions would be asked regarding their ability to break the psychological barrier that separates also-rans from winners.

Derived terms

• now-or-never (adjective)

Translations

at this sole opportunity or time, or not at all

• Danish: nu eller aldrig
• Finnish: nyt tai ei koskaan
• French: maintenant ou jamais (fr)
• Galician: please add this translation if you can
• German: jetzt oder nie
• Hebrew: עכשיו או לעולם (akhshav o l’olam)
• Hungarian: most vagy soha
• Italian: ora o mai più, adesso o mai più
• Japanese: 待った無し, 待ったなし, まったなし (matta-nashi) (noun)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nå eller aldri

  Nynorsk: no eller aldri

• Portuguese: agora ou nunca (pt)
• Russian: сейча́с и́ли никогда́ (sejčás íli nikogdá)
• Spanish: ahora o nunca
• Swedish: nu eller aldrig
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can

See also

• once-in-a-lifetime

Further reading

• Now or Never (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “now or (also other) never, phrase” under “now, adv., conj., n.¹, and adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2024.