English term
Luxembourg
Currently employed in-house
Native in: Romanian 
, Hungarian
Works in: German to Romanian, English to Romanian, Romanian to German, and 4 more.
blindly take a stab
promote a product or service to prospective English-speaking clients
overseas, or they could just get Meg to do it--and breathe a
sigh of relief.
PRO (1): Robert Donahue (X)
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Responses
"have a go at writing it (without much hope of success)"
Sometimes it can mean "to have a wild guess at something", but here it seems to mean "you can either try to write the promotional material-advertising yourself, and probably make a mess of it because you don't really know what you're doing, or you could get Meg to do it for you, because she is an expert and will do a professional, successful job" - then you can "breathe a sigh of relief", i.e. relax and not need to worry any more.
Sorry to be so wordy! I wouldn's say "try your luck" - that's more a gambling/betting term - her, it means "make a mess through ineptitude", as opposed to letting the expert do it properly.
HTH
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Robert Donahue (X)
: Good explanation
3 hrs
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Thanks!
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marybro
: attempt,.."blindly" emphasizes the lack of writing/marketing experience ...delegating the task to someone else has a better chance of success
4 hrs
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Thanks!
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United States
Literature & Scholarship
Native in: English (Variant: US) 
Works in: French to English, English, German to English
guess
"take a stab"- try
While Meg, on the other hand, evidently has a lot of experience and know-how in this area.
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Note added at 10 mins (2005-05-01 06:30:57 GMT)
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yes, the \"take a stab\" part is basically synonymous with \"attempt.\" The \"blindly\" indicates that it is a \"stab in the dark\"- that is, a rather haphazard, random attempt.
Such violent metaphors we\'ve got!
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Note added at 14 mins (2005-05-01 06:35:49 GMT)
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yes, I think \"try their luck\" is actually better than \"guess\"!
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Note added at 15 mins (2005-05-01 06:36:05 GMT)
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yes, I think \"try their luck\" is actually better than \"guess\"!
YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE - over 40 YEARS!
Native in: English , German
Works in: English to German, German to English, Portuguese to German, and 3 more.
have a go
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Note added at 9 mins (2005-05-01 06:30:14 GMT)
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attempt - exactly!
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Note added at 15 mins (2005-05-01 06:36:39 GMT)
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\"try their luck\" would work too / they are not experienced and the outcome depends a bit on divine intervention.
| agree |
Armorel Young
1 hr
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thanks :-)
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John Bowden
: Agree with "have a go" - but "try their luck" is a bit different.
4 hrs
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Thanks - you are right - attempt / try their hands ...
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Robert Donahue (X)
: IMO "try your luck" works for US English (and "have a go" has a more...let's just say different connotation).
8 hrs
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Iran
High-quality Farsi (Persian) Services
Native in: Persian (Farsi)
Works in: English to Persian (Farsi), Persian (Farsi) to English, Dari to English
undertake (a risky course of action) without assurance of success
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Note added at 36 mins (2005-05-01 06:57:51 GMT)
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The most concise equivalent, I believe, is \"venture at/on/upon\".
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John Bowden
: "Venture" wouldn't work here - much too formal and restricted use.
4 hrs
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Thank you, Mr. Bowden.
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| agree |
Robert Donahue (X)
: This is essentially it. John's correct about venture.
7 hrs
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Thanks a lot, Sir.
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Discussion