# "Not by a Long Chalk" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2001, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-by-a-long-chalk/85357 "2001-10-04T11:17:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Angel\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@Angel\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-by-a-long-chalk/85357/1 "2001-10-04T11:17:27Z")
Any guesses on the origin of this phrase? I’ve had both sporting and military solutions suggested to me, but none have been very convincing… ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-by-a-long-chalk/85357/2 "2001-10-04T11:36:07Z")
This from _Brewer_: **I beat him by a long chalk**. _Thoroughly. A reference to the custom of making merit marks with chalk, before lead pencils were so common_. ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-by-a-long-chalk/85357/3 "2001-10-04T13:58:08Z")
I would bet you are mis-hearing. The common saying is, “not by a long shot”. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@Angel\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-by-a-long-chalk/85357/4 "2001-10-04T14:07:32Z")
Do you think the chalk marks are academically related? or is this a sporting achievement? I had assumed the latter, but in that case, on what are the chalk marks being made? (assuming that tarmac & other hard surfaces are relatively recent). Maybe it’s a recent phrase, I don’t know - is it dated in your reference? (and I’m pretty sure that long chalk =/= long shot, they don’t sound that similar, after all) ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-by-a-long-chalk/85357/5 "2001-10-04T15:34:59Z")
Could “by a long chalk” by British? I’m in the United States and have always heard “by a long shot.” [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) has “chalk” meaning “score or tally” as chiefly British. Just to add a couple of others, “not by a long sight” and “not by a blame sight” mean “definitely not”. Similar in that they describe the lengths by which something is not. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-by-a-long-chalk/85357/6 "2001-10-04T15:53:36Z")
I’ve always heard it as “long shot”, too. Google gives me about 126,000 hits for “long shot” and only 1,360 hits for “long chalk”, so the former phrase is more common, at least on the web. Regardless, [Bartleby.com](http://Bartleby.com) gives this definition for [long chalk](http://www.bartleby.com/81/10476.html): > [@](#): > > _He beat me by a long chalk or by long chalks._ By a good deal; by many marks. The allusion is to the game of dominoes, where the notation is made by chalk on a table. It also gives this definition for [long shot](http://www.bartleby.com/61/33/L0243300.html): > [@](#): > > NOUN: 1. An entry, as in a horserace, with only a slight chance of winning. 2a. A bet made at great odds. b. A venture that offers a great reward if successful but has very little chance of success. […] > > IDIOM: **by a long shot** _Informal_ To any extent; at all. Usually used in negative sentences: _You haven’t done your share of the work by a long shot._ Note the definite difference between the two phrases. “Long chalk” means “a lot”. “Long shot” means “not at all”. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/not-by-a-long-chalk/85357/7 "2001-10-04T16:57:00Z")
I’ve always heard it as “not by a long walk.” With the same meaning as “not by a long shot.”