or bust

English

WOTD – 25 August 2019

Etymology

Indicating that the only alternative to what is being attempted is a bust (“(slang) failed enterprise; bomb”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɔː ˈbʌst/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɔɹ ˈbʌst/, /ɚ ˈbʌst/

Phrase

or bust

1. (chiefly US, informal) Used to indicate one's intention to do everything possible to achieve a goal, with failure being the only alternative.
   • 1905 June 29, N. E. Corthell, “A Family Trek to the Yellowstone”, in Henry Chandler Bowen, editor, The Independent, volume LVIII, number 2952, New York, N.Y.: The Independent, […], →OCLC, page 1460, column 1:

     Nearly half a lifetime I have lived in Laramie, with all the while a great longing to see the wonders of the Yellowstone— [...] so when the boys wrote along the wagon top "Park or Bust," that settled it, and we started July 4th, 1903.

   • 1908 September 12, “Campaign Topics”, in Alfred Holman, editor, The Argonaut, volume LXIII, number 1642, San Francisco, Calif.: Argonaut Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 399, column 2:

     Mr. [William Jennings] Bryan recognizes that he must win New York—"or bust." He went there straight from Des Moines and had a three-hour conference with the local leaders.

   • 1953 May, “Green Bar Bill” [pseudonym], “Green Bar Bill Says … First Class or Bust!”, in Harry A. Harchar, editor, Boys’ Life: The Magazine for All Boys, volume XLIII, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Boy Scouts of America, →OCLC, page 23, column 2:

     Here it was, in black and white: More than 50 percent of our membership Tenderfoot Scouts, about 25 percent Second Class, only 20 percent First Class or more! [...] Set a goal—something like "First Class or more before '54!" or, if you are more ambitious than that: "First Class or bust, by September Fu'st!"

   • 1987, Caroline Bancroft, Colorful Colorado: Its Dramatic History (Bancroft Booklets), Boulder, Colo.: Johnson Books, published 2002, →ISBN, page 44:

     The rush [the Pike's Peak Gold Rush] took on new momentum. [...] Each day fresh emigrants left the outfitting places along the Missouri with signs on their wagons, "Pikes Peak or Bust." During the summer of 1859 a continuing flood of gold-seekers poured across the plains and on into the mountains to conquer the Front and Park Ranges.

   • 2014 April 2, Delane Quiver Boyer, “SDSC or Bust”, in Path Chosen: Life of a Lakota: Mi Lakota Yelo, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 82:

     In the fall of 1951, I was on my way to South Dakota State College in Brookings SD with Dale Pettyjohn in his Model A Ford. We painted the back of the Model A in white letters "SDSC or Bust".

   • 2018 October 25, “‘Europe or Bust’ Migrants Undeterred in Morocco”, in France 24‎^[1], archived from the original on 25 October 2018:

     For scores of African migrants, it's a case of "Europe or bust", no matter what Moroccan authorities throw at them in the way of detentions and being bussed hundreds of kilometres away.

Derived terms

• Cali or bust

 

Translations

used to indicate one's intention to do everything possible to achieve a goal, with failure being the only alternative

• Spanish: o nada

See also

• swing for the fences
• victory or death

Further reading

• “or bust” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “or bust” (US) / “or bust” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “or bust”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• brotus, robust, turbos