Lucked out

[Jodyc]

It's quite an American phrase, but how can 'lucked out' be good luck? Wouldn't you be out of luck? In NZ it is bad luck. What are your thoughts?

[Quizmonster]

To 'luck out' has been an American saying since the 1950s, meaning to be luckily successful in a dangerous or difficult situation. I suspect the 'out', for them, suggests the 'escape element'...ie the getting away from the danger...rather than the 'absence element' that most other English speakers think of. We see that in phrases such as 'his luck ran out'.

[Ouisch]

In addition to Quizmonster's excellent response, I toss this idea into the ring: could it have something to do with craps (dice) games? When shooting dice, if one gets snake-eyes or a three, they "crapped out." I'm wondering if "lucked out" came into the lingo as the opposite of crapping out?

[Dulcinea]

Sometimes using the word 'out' is also a indicitive of being full of something. Saying I am "partied out" means you've had too much party.

[zgma]

We also use the phrase "his luck ran out" to mean the same thing as people in the UK do. I think QM is right about the danger aspect in "lucked out." When I say it, I usually mean an implication that the situation could have been really bad, but it ended up being good. As in, "I almost got in a car accident, but lucked out since I slammed on the brakes in time." (Ok, that's an extreme example of a phrase that is used all the time, but it's a good demonstration). So, I got lucky and escaped a potentially bad situation.