Dark horse

Dark horse
For other uses, see Dark Horse.

Dark horse is a term used to describe a little-known person or thing that emerges to prominence, especially in a competition of some sort.[1]

Contents

Origin

The term began as horse racing parlance. A dark horse is a race horse that is not known to gamblers and thus is difficult to place betting odds on.

The earliest-known use of the phrase is in Benjamin Disraeli's novel The Young Duke (1831). Disraeli's protagonist, the Duke of St. James, attends a horse race with a surprise finish: "A dark horse which had never been thought of, and which the careless St. James had never even observed in the list, rushed past the grandstand in sweeping triumph."[2]

Use in the political arena

The term has been used politically in such countries as Peru, Philippines and United States.

Politically, the term reached America in the nineteenth century when it was first applied to James K. Polk, a relatively unknown Tennessee Democrat who won the Democratic Party's 1844 presidential nomination over a host of better-known candidates. Polk won the nomination on the ninth ballot, and went on to win the presidential election.

Other famous dark horse candidates for the United States presidency include:

Outside of the United States, the term was also applied to Alberto Fujimori, who rose to the Presidency in Peru and Jejomar Binay, who rose to the Vice Presidency in the Philippines.

Recently Sarah Grainger for the BBC News website, used the term to refer to former army officer Diosdado Cabello, who helped Hugo Chavez to stage a failed coup in 1992, in an article about possible successors for Hugo Chavez. [3]


Use in film

The term dark horse is also used outside the political context. Surprising or unlikely nominations for such prizes as the Academy Award (awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) are referred to as dark horses.

Use in music

Guitarist and singer-songwriter George Harrison was nicknamed the "dark horse" of The Beatles, as his visibility as a songwriter and vocalist increased later in the Beatles' career, particularly on Abbey Road. Harrison went on to name his solo label Dark Horse Records, and to release both an album and a song named Dark Horse.

The blues band Savoy Brown have been called the "Dark Horse" band before, because of how under-appreciated they were.

The rock bands Crazy Town and Nickelback have albums titled Darkhorse and Dark Horse, respectively.

American Idol season 8 winner Kris Allen was coined as the "dark horse" of the competition as he went on to win the competition and defeat the crowd favorite and front-runner Adam Lambert. Jai McDowall was described as a "dark horse" of the show before beating hot favourite Ronan Parke in Britain's Got Talent.

Switchfoot's first single off their new album Vice Verses is called Dark Horses.

Use in publishing

Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book publisher.

References

  1. ^ A dark horse The Phrase Finder
  2. ^ Origins of Sayings - A Dark Horse Trivia Library
  3. ^ BBC News: Who could succeed Hugo Chavez as Venezuela's leader?

See also


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Dark Horse — may refer to: Dark horse, a political candidate who is nominated unexpectedly, or an underdog in other fields who achieves unprecedented success Contents 1 Music 2 Film and television …   Wikipedia

  • Dark horse — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Dark et Horse. Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Dark Horse, cheval sombre en français, peut faire référence à : Dark Horse Comics, un éditeur des… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Dark Horse — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Dark Horse puede referirse a: Dark Horse Comics, una editorial de cómics estadounidense; Dark Horse Records, un sello discográfico creado por George Harrison; Dark Horse, un álbum de George Harrison. Dark Horse, una… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Dark Horse — bezeichnet: Dark Horse (George Harrison Album), ein Musikalbum von George Harrison aus dem Jahr 1974 Dark Horse (Lied), Titellied des Albums Dark Horse Records, ein 1974 von George Harrison gegründetes Plattenlabel Dark Horse (Nickelback Album)… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Dark Horse — Dark Horse: Dark Horse альбом Nickelback. Dark Horse альбом Джорджа Харрисона. Dark Horse песня Джорджа Харрисона с одноимённого альбома. Dark Horse Records звукозаписывающая компания Джорджа Харрисона. Dark Horse Comics американское издательство …   Википедия

  • dark horse — {n.}, {informal} A political candidate little known to the general voting public; a candidate who was not expected to run. * /Every once in a while a dark horse candidate gets elected President./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • dark horse — {n.}, {informal} A political candidate little known to the general voting public; a candidate who was not expected to run. * /Every once in a while a dark horse candidate gets elected President./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • Dark Horse — Dark|horse, (auch:) Dark Horse [ da:k hɔ:s], das; , s [...sɪz; engl. = dunkles Pferd, aus: dark = dunkel, ungewiss u. horse = Pferd] (Jargon): noch nicht bekanntes Rennpferd …   Universal-Lexikon

  • dark horse — n 1.) someone who is not well known, and who surprises people by winning a competition ▪ In the 1955 golf championship, dark horse Jack Fleck defeated Ben Hogan. 2.) BrE someone who does not tell people much about themselves, but who has… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • dark horse — in politics, 1842, an image from horse racing, in which dark is used in its figurative sense of unknown. Moonraker is called a dark horse ; that is neither his sire nor dam is known. [ Pierce Egan s Book of Sports, London, 1832] …   Etymology dictionary

  • dark horse — dark horses N COUNT If you describe someone as a dark horse, you mean that people know very little about them, although they may have recently had success or may be about to have success. Until recently A. S. Byatt was a dark horse, known only by …   English dictionary

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