Close election

Hi Group,

The opposite of a "close election" how do you call it in English?

Antonio said:

Hi Group,

The opposite of a "close election" how do you call it in English?

A landslide / a landslide victory
(before the election: a predicted landslide).

F

No, but I mean during election day and after the election. What is the opposite of a close election?

Antonio said:

No, but I mean during election day and after the election. What is the opposite of a close election?

Sorry, Antonio. By "close election" I understood you to mean one in which the result is (or is expected to be) very close:
Candidate A - 51,001 votes; Candidate B - 50,999 votes
("a close election which ended in a neck-and-neck result")

Candidate A - 55,000 votes; Candidate B - 45,000 votes
would be "a clear victory" for Candidate A

Candidate A - 75,000 votes; Candidate B - 25,000 votes
would be "a landslide victory" for Candidate A

Candidate A - 90,000 votes; Candidate B - 10,000 votes
would be "a wipeout".

Perhaps, by "the oppposite of a close election" you mean
"a wide-open election":
that is to say, one in which no-one can confidently predict the result.

You couldn't really say that, though, after the election, at least not once the result was known, since by then the election would no longer be "open".

F (probably confusing matters even more)

Antonio said:

No, but I mean during election day and after the election. What is the opposite of a close election?

Antonio- in addition to Focalist's good comments, here are some words and phrases used to describe elections. Some of these come, not surprisingly, from horse racing.


Close: a neck-and-neck race
not close at all: a runaway victory, a walkover
extremely close: too close to call
uncertain outcome: a wide open contest
very close: a real squeaker

saludos,
Cuchufléte

What does it mean a "close race" and a "tight race"?

Antonio said:

What does it mean a "close race" and a "tight race"?

They mean the same thing. Tight means there is little room for error on the part of either candidate. It's a tight race, it's a close race. Tight gives a feeling of urgency to the race.

But basically, all mean the same thing as close race?

Antonio said:

But basically, all mean the same thing as close race?

Yes, and when it is extremely close, during the counting of the votes, and the
final result is still uncertain, it may be called a 'cliff-hanger'. This give a sense of suspense. The image is provokes is that of a person hanging from a cliff.
You don't know if he will climb up and live, or fall to his death.

saludos,
Cuchu

cuchufléte said:

The image it provokes is that of a person hanging from a cliff.
You don't know if he will climb up and live, or fall to his death.

And that image comes from the "cliffhanger serial" -- the films shown in short instalments weekly which would typically end with the hero or heroine hanging from a cliff by his or her fingertips.

There were similar cliffhanger serials on the radio and when you tuned in next time to learn what had happened to the hero, imprisoned by wicked villains (that's as opposed to good-hearted villiains, you understand 👁 Smile :)
), the episode would typically begin, after the briefest résumé of our hero's predicament, with "And with one bound he was free..." -- on with the action!

F