T-learning # Idiom
Speak Like a Native

touch-and-go

Choose the correct definition a, b or c.

a) uncertain

Well done ! That’s the right answer.

If you say that something is touch and go, you mean that you are uncertain whether it will happen or succeed. In British English, a touch-and-go situation is a risky or critical situation. In American English, the phrase means uncertain, risky, or precarious.

French translation

incertain, précaire

How NOT to translate : *on touche et on s’en va

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Examples in context

‘Brexit : Boris Johnson says odds of striking deal ’touch and go

Boris Johnson has said the chances of a Brexit deal are "touch and go" - having previously said the odds of a no-deal Brexit were "a million to one".
I
n a BBC interview at the G7 summit in France, he said it "all depends on our EU friends and partners".

When pressed on the chances, he said : "I think it’s going to be touch and go. But the important thing is to get ready to come out without a deal."’

BBC News, 25 August 2019

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Everyday usage

They know perfectly well that it was touch-and-go whether the unemployed were to receive anything at all.

It was touch-and-go whether the doctor would get there on time.

It’s touch-and-go with him.

b) fast

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c) reliable

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