Run out of luck
Meaning
To experience a continuous streak of misfortune or bad outcomes, indicating that one's good fortune has been entirely depleted.
Origin
The notion of "luck" as a quantifiable, even exhaustible, commodity has deep roots, especially in the volatile worlds of gambling and speculation. While the concept of fortune deserting someone is ancient, the precise phrasing "run out of luck" solidified its place in the English lexicon during the early 20th century, particularly amidst the booming card games and burgeoning stock markets of America. It painted a vivid picture: just as a prospector's mine could "run out" of ore or a traveler's canteen could "run out" of water, so too could one's allotted share of good fortune simply vanish. The phrase perfectly encapsulated the dramatic moment when a winning streak abruptly ended, leaving behind only the stark reality of misfortune, a stark and immediate depletion of one's invisible reserve of good fate.
Examples
- After losing his job and then crashing his car, he truly felt he had run out of luck.
- The once-successful gambler finally ran out of luck, losing everything in one disastrous night at the casino.