don't give up your day job

English

Pronunciation

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Phrase

don't give up your day job

  1. (idiomatic, often humorous) Somewhat sarcastic but usually good-natured advice used to criticise a person's degree of talent (especially in music or other performing arts), implying that they are unlikely to be successful.
    Synonym: don't quit your day job
    When the accounting department's barbershop quartet was warming up, the sales team was ribbing them, yelling, "Don't give up your day job!"
    • 2006 July 3, Viv Bernstein, “Said Makes His Case for Success in Nascar”, in New York Times, retrieved 11 October 2015:
      "I remember after the school was over," he said, "I went up to the instructor just completely wound up like: ‘O.K. man, how do I do this and become a real racecar driver? I want to quit my job and do this.’ . . . And he goes: ‘Other Sports Beckon. You suck. Don't give up your day job.’ "
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