your mileage may vary

English

WOTD – 30 September 2018

Etymology

The fuel gauge of an automobile

The United States Environmental Protection Agency requires all new vehicles to undergo a set of standard emissions tests which simulate city and highway driving. Part of the test measures estimated city and highway gas (petrol) mileage estimates. Since no test can exactly simulate all driving habits and conditions, the actual gas mileage of each vehicle will vary. As a result, when these estimated mileage claims from automobile manufacturers appear in advertisements, they are almost always accompanied with the standard disclaimer “your mileage may vary”.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /jə ˈmaɪlədʒ meɪ ˈvɛəɹi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /jɚ ˈmaɪlədʒ meɪ ˈvɛəɹi/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: your mile‧age may vary

Phrase

your mileage may vary

1. (Canada, US, idiomatic, often computing) It may work differently in your situation, or be different in your experience.

   The battery lasts a day in my phone, but your mileage may vary.

   • 1993, Jim Melton, Alan R. Simon, “Basic Data Definition Language (DDL)”, in Understanding the New SQL: A Complete Guide, San Francisco, Calif.: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, →ISBN, section 4.3.4 (Temporary Tables), page 74:

     When that definition is executed, the metadata for the temporary table is put into your schema (most likely—your mileage may vary), but no space is allocated to hold data.

   • 1994, Bob LeVitus, Macintosh System 7.5 for Dummies (For Dummies), San Mateo, Calif.: IDG Books, →ISBN, page 328:

     In other words, your mileage may vary and my disk-size figures are just estimates provided for your convenience.

   • 2012, Jessica Addams, Andrew Miller, “Modern Wolf Mythology: The Things that ‘Everyone Knows’”, in Between Dog and Wolf: Understanding the Connection and the Confusion, Wenatchee, Wash.: Dogwise Publishing, →ISBN:

     We pause here to emphasize that with animals, there are no absolutes. […] We like to say that with any given wolf or dog, "your mileage may vary."

   • 2015 November 12, Daniel Mallory Ortberg, Emily Yoffe, “Dear Prudie, from Prudie: Emily Yoffe’s advice to her successor, Mallory Ortberg”, in Slate‎^[1], archived from the original on 7 February 2018:

     Mallory Ortberg: […] The advice game is the ultimate your-mileage-may-vary exercise—do you have a feeling for when someone is looking for (or needs) a gentle smack to return them to their senses, a bit of empathy, a dose of humor? It’s a tricky balance, I think, between writing something entertaining for your many readers and trying to be genuinely helpful to the original writer.

2. (Canada, US, idiomatic) Used to express a possible difference in taste: this is just my opinion, your opinion may be different.

   I think that red dress looks really good on you, but your mileage may vary, of course.

   • 2017 April 12, Brian Truitt, “Review: ‘Fate’ is furious enough to excite the faithful”, in USA Today‎^[2], archived from the original on 6 September 2018:

     Your mileage may vary when it comes to the over-the-top carnage and in-your-face machismo, but it’s impressive just how bonkers Fate [The Fate of the Furious] is, like a litter of kittens hopped up on grade-A catnip.

   • 2018 August 31, Leslie Wu, “Mobile Hotel Rooms are the New Home away from Home”, in Forbes‎^[3], archived from the original on 1 September 2018:

     The privatization of luxury space in planes, trains and automobiles have certainly enhanced our ability to keep to ourselves on the road (see the rise of personal pods at airports for a recent example of the lengths people will go to for solitude). And as those spaces get increasingly automated, human interaction is becoming increasingly limited (although your mileage may vary as to how much you really enjoy that interaction with customs or gate agents).

Synonyms

• YMMV (initialism)
• your mileage may differ, YMMD

Translations

it may work differently in your situation

• Czech: možná to máte jinak
• Finnish: sinun tilanteestasi en osaa sanoa
• Greek: ίσως να δουλεύει διαφορετικά για εσένα (ísos na doulévei diaforetiká gia eséna)
• Hungarian: ez (persze) mindenkinél másként/máshogy/máshogyan van/működik
• Romanian: e posibil să fie diferit în cazul tău
• Russian: э́то мо́жет срабо́тать у тебя́ по-друго́му (éto móžet srabótatʹ u tebjá po-drugómu)
• Spanish: podría funcionar diferentemente para ti

this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste

• Catalan: és només la meva opinió
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 見仁見智／见仁见智 (zh) (jiànrénjiànzhì)

• Czech: myslím si aspoň já, proti gustu
• Finnish: tämä on vain minun mielipiteeni
• French: ce n’est que mon avis, des goûts et des couleurs, on ne discute pas (fr)
• Galician: só é a miña opinión
• German: meiner Meinung nach
• Greek: αυτή είναι απλά η γνώμη μου (aftí eínai aplá i gnómi mou)
• Hebrew: זו רק דעתי (zo rak da'ati)
• Hungarian: ízlések és pofonok (hu), kinek a pap, kinek a papné, nem vagyunk egyformák, (non-idiomatic ways) ez csak az én véleményem, lehet, hogy te másként látod
• Polish: to tylko moje zdanie
• Russian: э́то то́лько моё мне́ние (éto tólʹko mojó mnénije)
• Spanish: es solo mi opinión

See also

• YKINMK