now or never

now or never

English

Pronunciation

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Adverb

now or never (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic, set phrase) At this sole opportunity, or not at all.
   • 1975, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson (lyrics and music), “Mamma Mia”, performed by ABBA:

     Mamma mia, even if I say
     "Bye-bye", leave me now or never

   • 2021 April 29, Jamie Jackson, “Edinson Cavani and Bruno Fernandes help Manchester United hit Roma for six”, in The Guardian‎:

     There had been a sense of now or never about this semi-final for United. Another elimination would be a fifth last-four reverse under the manager and serious questions would be asked regarding their ability to break the psychological barrier that separates also-rans from winners.

Translations

now or never

Danish: nu eller aldrig French: maintenant ou jamais (fr) German: jetzt oder nie Hebrew: עכשיו או לעולם‎ (akhshav o l'olam) Hungarian: most vagy soha Norwegian: Bokmål: nå eller aldri Nynorsk: no eller aldri Portuguese: agora ou nunca (pt) Russian: сейча́с и́ли никогда́ (sejčás íli nikogdá) Spanish: ahora o nunca Swedish: nu eller aldrig

See also

• once-in-a-lifetime