Dictionary

Monday-morning quarterback en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Professional football games in the United States are most often played on Sundays, making Monday a likely day for fans to discuss and critique the performances of teams, in particular that of the quarterback who leads the offence on the field. However, there is evidence that the term actually derived in college football, which is usually played on Saturdays, in which case the use of Monday would also likely be on account of Sunday being the Christian sabbath and a traditional day of rest in the U.S., making it unlikely certain groups with a common interest in the game (such as co-workers) would meet before Monday.

Meanings

1. (US, idiomatic) Someone who criticizes with hindsight.
   • Yet some Monday-morning quarterbacks also noted that, just as 1960 was the first TV election and 2016 was the first social-media election, the 2024 Presidential campaign was the first to be conducted largely on live streams and long-form podcasts, media that happen to be thoroughly dominated by MAGA bros. 2025 March 17, Andrew Marantz, “The Battle for the Bros”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN, archived from the original on 20 Mar 2025:

Forms

Translations (4)

cmn 事後諸葛亮 /事后诸葛亮 (Translations) · fr inspecteur des travaux finis (Translations) · fi jälkiviisastelija (Translations) · pl osoba krytykująca poniewczasie (Translations)

Monday-morning quarterback en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

Professional football games in the United States are most often played on Sundays, making Monday a likely day for fans to discuss and critique the performances of teams, in particular that of the quarterback who leads the offence on the field. However, there is evidence that the term actually derived in college football, which is usually played on Saturdays, in which case the use of Monday would also likely be on account of Sunday being the Christian sabbath and a traditional day of rest in the U.S., making it unlikely certain groups with a common interest in the game (such as co-workers) would meet before Monday.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To criticize with hindsight.
   • Nathan, Dave & Marty, wisely chose to leave the battle strategy to the police, Monday-morning quarterbacking the fray from inside the safety of a cement block restroom building. 2007, Al Alloway, Treasure in the Park, self-published, →ISBN, page 126:
   • We can Monday-morning quarterback the situation and suggest that the large company should have made a counterchallenge. 2004, William A. Cohen, The Art of the Strategist, American Management Association, →ISBN, page 119:
   • Before any show, we "Monday-morning quarterback" the last show. Each man points out his partners' errors, then has to listen to his own. 1958 January, Jacksel M. Broughton, “I Led the Thunderbirds”, in Popular Mechanics, volume 109, number 1:

Forms

Relateds

wise after the event · back-seat driver · twenty-twenty hindsight · armchair quarterback

Translations (2)

pl krytykować poniewczasie (Translations) · pl skrytykować poniewczasie (Translations)