Question

Could anyone tell me what the term "photo finish" means?

2023-06-25

This is what goPenpal answered

"Photo finish" refers to a race in sports where the finish is so close that a photograph needs to be inspected to determine the winner. The phrase draws an image of a race so competitive that the difference between victory and defeat is merely a fraction of a second, as tiny as a single frame of a photograph. It's not just limited to sports, we use it in everyday language too. If you're racing to meet a deadline and you submit your report just in the nick of time, you might say you had a "photo finish". So, it's a term that encapsulates the thrill and high stakes of neck-to-neck competition, whether literal or metaphorical.

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