no-hoper

• “Most assumed that was that, including the bookies who quickly installed him as a 270-1 no-hoper, but the young American had other ideas.”

  The Guardian: Keegan Bradley wins US PGA play-off to give Americans a major boost

• “Mellon has said she was a "no-hoper" at her expensive boarding school.”

  The Guardian: Jimmy Choo shoe queen Tamara Mellon keeps fans guessing over her next steps

• “Clay is a professional bloat, eyes empty and drained of any serious intent, a drinking no-hoper, a writer who has not a single worthwhile thought in his head and whose sole interest is his needy, middle-age fixation on Rain, a one-dimensional sexpot.”

  The Wall Street Journal: Zero Progress

• “He was a talentless no-hoper convinced he was headed for, or had alreadyhit, the big time.”

  The Guardian: Frank Sidebottom ... 'He'd have died to be in the charts'

• “Since it first aired in 2004, audiences have primarily been drawn to The X Factor for the entertainment value to be had from watching the most disastrous auditions: the tone-deaf no-hoper who performs an acoustic version of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean accompanied on the spoons, for instance, or the mother-and-daughter duo with an inexplicable faith in their non-existent singing abilities.”

  The Guardian: Cheryl Cole's favourite designers are the real winners of X Factor

• “The 1980s and 90s were a golden age: With football suffering from an image problem, mostly because of hooliganism and stadium disasters, snooker's popularity soared, peaking wiith the 1985 world championship final between Steve Davis, the sport's dominant player, and Dennis Taylor, who'd entered the tournament as an apparent no-hoper.”

  The Wall Street Journal: Snooker Faces the Grim Reaper

• “The fighter on which Rocky was patterned was a fellow named Chuck Wepner, aka the Bayonne Bleeder, a no-hoper heavyweight who got a fight with Mohammed Ali in 1975, and got the stuffings pounded out of him.”

  Medal Finalists Announced

• “Her character, a radio presenter who picks up a young no-hoper and turns him into a television star, returned her to the movie mainstream.”

  Simon & Schuster: Storyteller

• “When approved by the Supreme Leader to run for president, the erudite and friendly cleric from Yazd was considered a no-hoper—but useful in providing a patina of democracy across a broader political spectrum.”

  Simon & Schuster: Let the Swords Encircle Me

• “They were not at fault because the number 189 which had walked out accompanied by chit 189 had been a weedy-necked no-hoper, and not Melbourne Smith's expensive aristocrat.”

  Fictionaut: The Elvis Latte

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