your mileage may vary en · X
Pronunciation
- /jɚ ˈmaɪlədʒ meɪ ˈvɛəɹi/ (General-American)
- /jə ˈmaɪlədʒ meɪ ˈvɛəɹi/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
The United States Environmental Protection Agency requires all new vehicles to undergo a set of standard emissions tests which simulate city and highway driving. Part of the test measures estimated city and highway gas (petrol) mileage estimates. Since no test can exactly simulate all driving habits and conditions, the actual gas mileage of each vehicle will vary. As a result, when these estimated mileage claims from automobile manufacturers appear in advertisements, they are almost always accompanied with the standard disclaimer “your mileage may vary”.
Meanings
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(Canada, US, idiomatic, often) It may work differently in your situation, or be different in your experience.
Mallory Ortberg: […] The advice game is the ultimate your-mileage-may-vary exercise—do you have a feeling for when someone is looking for (or needs) a gentle smack to return them to their senses, a bit of empathy, a dose of humor? It’s a tricky balance, I think, between writing something entertaining for your many readers and trying to be genuinely helpful to the original writer.
2015 November 12, Daniel Mallory Ortberg, Emily Yoffe, “Dear Prudie, from Prudie: Emily Yoffe’s advice to her successor, Mallory Ortberg”, in Slate, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2018:When that definition is executed, the metadata for the temporary table is put into your schema (most likely—your mileage may vary), but no space is allocated to hold data.
1993, Jim Melton, Alan R. Simon, “Basic Data Definition Language (DDL)”, in Understanding the New SQL: A Complete Guide, San Francisco, Calif.: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, →ISBN, section 4.3.4 (Temporary Tables), page 74:The battery lasts a day in my phone, but your mileage may vary.
We pause here to emphasize that with animals, there are no absolutes. […] We like to say that with any given wolf or dog, "your mileage may vary."
2012, Jessica Addams, Andrew Miller, “Modern Wolf Mythology: The Things that ‘Everyone Knows’”, in Between Dog and Wolf: Understanding the Connection and the Confusion, Wenatchee, Wash.: Dogwise Publishing, →ISBN:In other words, your mileage may vary and my disk-size figures are just estimates provided for your convenience.
1994, Bob LeVitus, Macintosh System 7.5 for Dummies (For Dummies), San Mateo, Calif.: IDG Books, →ISBN, page 328:
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(Canada, US, idiomatic) Used to express a possible difference in taste: this is just my opinion, your opinion may be different.
I think that red dress looks really good on you, but your mileage may vary, of course.
The privatization of luxury space in planes, trains and automobiles have certainly enhanced our ability to keep to ourselves on the road (see the rise of personal pods at airports for a recent example of the lengths people will go to for solitude). And as those spaces get increasingly automated, human interaction is becoming increasingly limited (although your mileage may vary as to how much you really enjoy that interaction with customs or gate agents).
2018 August 31, Leslie Wu, “Mobile Hotel Rooms are the New Home away from Home”, in Forbes, archived from the original on 01 Sep 2018:Your mileage may vary when it comes to the over-the-top carnage and in-your-face machismo, but it’s impressive just how bonkers Fate [The Fate of the Furious] is, like a litter of kittens hopped up on grade-A catnip.
2017 April 12, Brian Truitt, “Review: ‘Fate’ is furious enough to excite the faithful”, in USA Today, archived from the original on 06 Sep 2018:
Relateds
Synonyms
YMMV · YMMD · your mileage may differ
Translations (27)
el αυτή είναι απλά η γνώμη μου (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · de meiner Meinung nach (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · fr ce n'est que mon avis (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · hu ez csak az én véleményem (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · fi tämä on vain minun mielipiteeni (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · es tu experiencia puede variar (it may work differently in your situation) · hu lehet, hogy te másként látod (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · cs myslím si aspoň já (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · hu nem vagyunk egyformák (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · hu ez mindenkinél másként/máshogy/máshogyan van/működik (persze) (it may work differently in your situation) · he זו רק דעתי (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · ca és només la meva opinió (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · fr des goûts et des couleurs, on ne discute pas (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · gl só é a miña opinión (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · cmn 見仁見智 /见仁见智 (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · pl to tylko moje zdanie (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · es es solo mi opinión (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · ru э́то то́лько моё мне́ние (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · hu kinek a pap, kinek a papné (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · es podría funcionar diferentemente para ti (it may work differently in your situation) · hu ízlések és pofonok (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · el ίσως να δουλεύει διαφορετικά για εσένα (it may work differently in your situation) · ru э́то мо́жет срабо́тать у тебя́ по-друго́му (it may work differently in your situation) · cs proti gustu (this is just my opinion — see also there's no accounting for taste) · ro e posibil să fie diferit în cazul tău (it may work differently in your situation) · cs možná to máte jinak (it may work differently in your situation) · fi sinun tilanteestasi en osaa sanoa (it may work differently in your situation)
wikipedia: Field & Stream · wikipedia: United States Environmental Protection Agency