Slang dictionary
I’m feeling lucky
[ahym fee-ling luhk-ee]
What does I'm feeling lucky mean?
I鈥檓 feeling lucky conveys hope for or optimism about a chance outcome, especially gambling.
It is also the name of a Google search function.
Where does I’m feeling lucky come from?
I鈥檓 feeling lucky has long been a phrase used by gamblers before placing a bet or rolling the dice. It is used metaphorically as an expression of sincere or superstitious confidence in the random outcomes of events.
A form of the phrase is especially associated with Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) in the classic 1977 western Dirty Harry. Callahan aims his gun at an enemy on the ground, his gun just out of reach, and has his foe entertain whether or not his cylinder has any remaining bullets: 鈥淏ut being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you’ve gotta ask yourself one question: 鈥楧o I feel lucky?鈥� Well, do ya, punk?鈥� A popular corruption of the quote is 鈥淒o you feel lucky, punk?鈥�
I鈥檓 feeling lucky gained popularity in a different area with the launch of the Google search engine in 1998. From the search engine鈥檚 beta version, Google users could enter a search term and then hit the I鈥檓 Feeling Lucky button instead of the regular search button, which would take them automatically to the first result and bypass the results page.
The I鈥檓 Feeling Lucky button got its name from the gambling sense of the term鈥攗sers effectively gambled that the first result would be what they were looking for. The phrase quickly took on a Google-centric life of its own, showing up in employee tell-all book titles as well as in the title of a Google Assistant trivia game show. Since the feature鈥檚 release, I鈥檓 feeling lucky has in some cases started to refer to the mechanics of the Google button.
Examples of I’m feeling lucky
Who uses I’m feeling lucky?
In contemporary usage, gamblers and Googlers aren鈥檛 the only ones who say (or click) that they鈥檙e feeling lucky. The phrase enjoys general, colloquial use in speech and writing as an earnest, nervous, or ironic presentiment of hope for a favorable outcome when taking a risk. It is often qualified by time or circumstance (e.g., 鈥�I鈥檓 feeling lucky today鈥� or 鈥�I鈥檓 feeling lucky this time鈥�).
I鈥檓 feeling lucky, punk is sometimes used as a riff on or allusion to the Dirty Harry quote. Be mindful that getting lucky is a euphemism for 鈥渉aving sexual intercourse.鈥�
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of I’m feeling lucky like most terms we define on 亚洲网紅露点, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of I’m feeling lucky that will help our users expand their word mastery.