Dear experts,

Would you say that both LUCK OUT and its variant LUCK IT OUT are freely interchangeable in all instances as:

1. Suddenly to get lucky when in fact the odds are against one's succeeding: I was sure I was going to miss the train as I was three minutes late, but I lucked out, the train was five minutes late.
2. To be extraordinarily fortunate: Catwallender really lucked out at Las Vegas last month; he came home with $10,000 in cash.
3. (By sarcastic opposition) to be extremely unfortunate; to be killed: Those poor marines sure lucked out in Saigon, didn't they?

Thank you,
Yuri

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <Grammar Exchange 2>,

Meanings 1 and 2 can be applied to the phrasal verb "luck out." Since sarcasm can be applied to a great many things you can say, meaning 3 is derivative and not part of the basic meaning of the verb.

"Luck IT out" is a new combination for me; I've never encountered it before. A Google search shows a few examples, though. From the examples I see, I've concluded that this expression is being used with two different meanings. One is the same meaning as "luck out":

"” "Not as long as that. We met during basic training." "Oh?" "Then we both lucked it out and got assigned to Navy Pier for flight practice.". "So you're a pilot ...
http://beatlegirl.tripod.com/onwings/chapter3.html

This meaning is not found in very many of the examples on Google.

The other meaning seems to be "keep doing something or take one's chances in the hope that one will be lucky":

"” He'd never been one much for smooth pickup lines like his friends, preferring to luck it out and win the lady over with his charming personality.
http://invisionfree.com/forums/once/

"” It is, indeed, heart-rending to listen to those pistons pumping away furiously, those shafts spinning, valves popping, and exhaust straining to evacuate gasses. Not to mention the anxiety of, while scrutinizing a fickle gas gauge, having to decide between going back to the last gas station you passed, or trying to luck it out till the next one.
http://www.vclassics.com/pv_od.html

"” It's difficult to resist the temptation of quick riches, but lucking it out on ˜tips' and chasing fads and trends are recipes for financial disaster. Ask anyone who bought at the height of the bull market in 1999, when every other ICE stock was high on the ˜buy' list.
http://www1.iinvestor.com/scripts/IIH021C1

I get the impression that this second usage is influenced by the idiom "stick it out," which means "to keep doing something in the face of difficulties." This idiom is often found in the past tense form, "stuck it out," as in

"” Many investors who bailed out after the stock bubble burst, when accounting scandals and corporate bankruptcies discouraged buying, have come to regret the decision. Those who stuck it out have enjoyed the market's fabulous gains.
http://university.smartmoney.com/

Marilyn