more power to your elbow

English

WOTD – 11 October 2021

Etymology

Possibly an elaboration of more power to you, with the speaker expressing the wish that the person addressed will have more strength to achieve their goal.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /mɔː ˈpaʊə tʊ jə ˈɛlbəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /mɔɹ ˈpaʊɚ tʊ jɚ ˈɛlboʊ/
• Hyphenation: more pow‧er to your el‧bow

Interjection

more power to your elbow

1. (British) Used to express admiration of a person coupled with wishes for their continued success in an endeavour of their own choosing: all the best; good luck.

   Synonyms: best of luck, more power to your arm

   • 1959 May, G. F. Fiennes (reviewer), “New Reading on Railways: British Railways Today and Tomorrow. By G. Freeman Allen. Ian Allan. 25s.”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 271:

     Naturally the forms of traction occupy Mr. [Geoffrey] Freeman Allen much of his time and he sits on no fence here; he is an "electrifier", with good reasons advanced—more power to his elbow.

Translations

used to express admiration of a person coupled with wishes for their continued success in an endeavour of their own choosing

Further reading

• “more power to a person (also a person’s elbow, arm), phrase” under “power, n.¹”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2021.
• “more power to someone, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.