one should be so lucky

English

Alternative forms

• one will be lucky

Phrase

one should be so lucky

1. (informal, sarcastic) It is highly doubtful: indicating that something is not likely to happen to the person specified.
   • 1970, The New York Times Biographical Service, New York Times & Arno Press, page 660:

     So now I'm the Beverly Sills of Broadway, right? Hah! I should be so lucky!

   • 1971, Equal Rights for Men and Women 1971: Hearings, Ninety-second Congress, First Session, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 131:

     I laugh uncontrollably when I meet women who say, "What if we get equal rights; we'll all be drafted!" My reply is, "You should be so lucky." The male-dominated military are not about to open their last sanctuary to 51 percent of the population.

   • 1983, Larry Ketron, Asian Shade, Dramatists Play Service, page 37:

     I play my heart out. To have me on his team, he should be so lucky. That's right. When I get chosen, I give everything.

   • 1988, Jack Kugelmass, editor, Between Two Worlds, Cornell University Press, page 311:

     "You take pictures in here and you're liable to get a rat in one of them!" "I should be so lucky. I've been trying for years to get a picture of a rat at the Intervale Jewish Center without any luck. They refuse to pose."

Translations

it is highly doubtful

• Czech: zlatý voči!
• Hungarian: azt megnézem magamnak!, (ugyan/vajon) mikor lesz/van neked olyan/akkora szerencséd?
• Spanish: no caerá esa breva

See also

• chance'd be a fine thing
• one should live so long

Further reading

• “one should be so lucky”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “I should be so lucky”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “you should be so lucky”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.