Dictionary definition of “leave (something) on the table”

leave (something) on the table

v. phr. to refrain from taking the utmost advantage of something; to not address every aspect of a situation; in the form leave money on the table, to negotiate a deal that is less financially beneficial than is expected or possible. Subjects: English, Money & Finance, Colloquial

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Citations: 1968 Thomas W. Bush Los Angeles Times (Feb. 7) “Record $603 Million Bid for Santa Barbara Oil Leases” p. B9: The difference between what the high bidder on a lease parcel offers and the bid of his nearest competitor is called in the industry “leaving money on the table.” Humble left the table well laden on several of its bids. 1973 Chicago Tribune (June 24) “Construction-cost estimators can ruin builder with bad guess” p. 12-1: He admitted he does have bad dreams occasionally about an estimator’s most dreaded mistake—“leaving something on the table”—in layman’s terms, forgetting to include a figure in a final estimate. 1980 Karen W. Arenson New York Times (Dec. 30) “A ‘Hot’ Offering Retrospective” p. 1: The ideal offering, investment bankers say, is one that rises to a small premium. A small price rise presumably gives the initial investors confidence in the company, and also confirms the sagacity of the corporate officers and underwriters involved in setting the offering price. The company thus does not feel that it left “money on the table.” By that criteria, the Genentech offering was not successful. 1985 Forbes (Jan. 14) “Who’s Where In The Stock Market”: In recent years the biggest fortunes Wall Street has handed out have gone to enterprising merchants rather than to software stars on gene-splicing geniuses. Look outside the top ten and you will see First Boston and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. So don’t worry about the dealmakers. They always seem to leave something on the table for themselves. 1988 Lloyd Bentsen Washington Post (Oct. 6) “Transcript Of The Vice Presidential Debate” p. A28: Well, I can’t leave something on the table that he’s charged me with, and so let’s get to that one. 1988 Lew Sichelman Chicago Tribune (Home Guide 1) (Dec. 24) “Looking For Raw Land In All The Right Places”: Don’t hold out for the last dollar. Instead, leave something on the table for the next owner. “It’s riskier to be the last builder rather than the first,” Sletten advises. “If you hold out to the very end, the use your property is designed for may be overbuilt, and then no one will want to buy it.” 1991 Helen Kaye Jerusalem Post (Israel) (June 21) “Do Everything With Passion” p. 21: Leave something on the table for the next generation. Make a net contribution to society. Don’t be a taker. 1992 USA Today (Nov. 18) “Moon: Trouble ahead?” p. 05C: (Fear of concussions) was a factor in retiring, but not the overriding factor.…I always wanted to leave something on the table. And when I retired, I always wanted to remember what I left on the table. I didn’t want anything jiggling around inside. 1993 Wall Street Transcript (Nov. 8) “Douglas Stark State Street Global Advisors” vol. 122, no. 6,: What you find is that the passive hedgers and other nonprofit participants leave “chips on the table” in the currency market, that speculators, in essence, are able to take advantage of. The nonprofit participants are willing to take the other side when the speculators see an opportunity. 2006 Seán Captain New York Times (Oct. 25) “Need a Tuneup? Become a Hacker”: Even a car straight from the factory will run differently with computer tuning—especially if it is a performance-oriented model like the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution or the Subaru Impreza WRX STi, equipped with beefy hardware like a turbocharger. “They’re so aggressively prepared from the factory,” said David Vespremi, who wrote “Car Hacks & Mods for Dummies.” “And yes, they left a little bit on the table. And that little bit is often what you get from tuning.”

Posted 26 Oct 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend