Dictionary

don't give up your day job en · X

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (humorous, idiomatic, often) Somewhat sarcastic but usually good-natured advice used to criticise a person's degree of talent (especially in music or other performing arts), implying that they are unlikely to be successful.
   • When the accounting department's barbershop quartet was warming up, the sales team was ribbing them, yelling, "Don't give up your day job!"
   • "I remember after the school was over," he said, "I went up to the instructor just completely wound up like: ‘O.K. man, how do I do this and become a real racecar driver? I want to quit my job and do this.’ . . . And he goes: ‘Other Sports Beckon. You suck. Don't give up your day job.’ " 2006 July 3, Viv Bernstein, “Said Makes His Case for Success in Nascar”, in New York Times, retrieved 11 Oct 2015:

Synonyms

don't quit your day job