in the right place at the right time

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Prepositional phrase

in the right place at the right time

1. At a location where something good is about to happen at just the time of its occurrence; lucky; fortunate; able to obtain a benefit due to circumstances, rather than due to merit.

   Antonym: in the wrong place at the wrong time

   • 2011 October 2, Jonathan Jurejko, “Bolton 1 - 5 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     And the Premier League's all-time top-goalscoring midfielder proved he has not lost the knack of being in the right place at the right time with a trio of clinical finishes.

   • 2007, Larry G. Patten, Living As A Champion, page 251:

     Many of us have looked at others success and commented, "That person was just in the right place at the right time!"

   • 2003, Graham Till, The Redundancy Survivor's Field Guide, page 6:

     Knowing the right person or merely being in the right place at the right time continues to be the best way of getting a job.

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: oikeassa paikassa oikeaan aikaan
• French: au bon endroit au bon moment
• German: zur richtigen Zeit am richtigen Ort
• Romanian: în locul potrivit la momentul potrivit

Further reading

• “in the right place at the right time”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “in the right place at the right time” (US) / “in the right place at the right time” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “be in the right place at the right time” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.