break one's way

[woaizhuoran]

Hi, I am confused at the two phrases in the following sentence.
"It had been a rough year; nothing seemed to break my way. This was so out of left field I just couldn't handle it.
Look forward to your explanation. Thank you in advance.

 

[heypresto]

Please tell us where you saw this sentence, and in what context. What does "this" refer to?

 

[woaizhuoran]

Please tell us where you saw this sentence, and in what context. What does "this" refer to?

A man received help from a Mexican family on the roadside when his car broke down. He paid them 20 dollars, which was returned secretly. He was greatly touched.

 

[dojibear]

"It had been a rough year; nothing seemed to break my way.

"break" = when something random happens, what is the result?
"My way" = a result that is good for me

So "nothing seemed to happen to help me. Everything seemed to hurt me."

 

[dojibear]

This was so out of left field I just couldn't handle it.

This was so unexpected and surprising that I just couldn't handle it.

 

[woaizhuoran]

This was so unexpected and surprising that I just couldn't handle it.

Thank you very much. Are these two phrases connected with specific sport terms?

 

[dojibear]

"Out of left field" refers to baseball. Baseball has a main area (the diamond) and three much larger fields: left field, right field and center field. The batter tries to hit the ball a long distance (into one of the fields).

But I don't know the phrase origin. Here is a wikipedia page about this phrase.
Out of left field - Wikipedia

"Break my way" means "break towards me". That could happen in any sport -- when the ball hits the ground, it might change direction ("break"). It could change direction "my way" (towards me) or in some other direction.

nothing seemed to break my way

This expression could be "go my way":

nothing seemed to go my way

So "my way" means "favorable to me". This talks about luck. I had bad luck.

 

[woaizhuoran]

"Out of left field" refers to baseball. Baseball has a main area (the diamond) and three much larger fields: left field, right field and center field. The batter tries to hit the ball a long distance (into one of the fields).

But I don't know the phrase origin. Here is a wikipedia page about this phrase.
Out of left field - Wikipedia

"Break my way" means "break towards me". That could happen in any sport -- when the ball hits the ground, it might change direction ("break"). It could change direction "my way" (towards me) or in some other direction.


This expression could be "go my way":

So "my way" means "favorable to me". This talks about luck. I had bad luck.

Thank you for your detailed explanation, dojibear.

 

[kentix]

Yes, didn't "break my way" means I didn't have any good luck. Things that happened always went against me.

"Out of left field" is used when something happens with no prior warning or expectation. It could be good or bad.

- The news that I had cancer came out of left field. I'd been running marathons and physically I felt as good as I ever had before.

- The news that I had inherited $800,000 from my uncle came out of left field. I didn't even know he had that much money.

In this case, the person was so used to having bad luck that he couldn't believe it when something good happened.

 

[woaizhuoran]

Yes, didn't "break my way" means I didn't have any good luck. Things that happened always went against me.

"Out of left field" is used when something happens with no prior warning or expectation. It could be good or bad.

- The news that I had cancer came out of left field. I'd been running marathons and physically I felt as good as I ever had before.

- The news that I had inherited $800,000 from my uncle came out of left field. I didn't even know he had that much money.

In this case, the person was so used to having bad luck that he couldn't believe it when something good happened.

Thank you very much, Kentix