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hands down

Virginia1993

Senior Member
Persian
Hi all,
What does "hands down" mean here?

Our preferences change and our working style changes and our priorities change. [...] How you liked to spend your time 6 months back might be something you hate today. Hence, hands down. I am sorry but I cannot give some random hacks that just sound good on paper, and make you feel inspired at the moment just to make you feel guilty for not following them later.

source: the art of being alone by Renuka Gavrani
What does "hands down" mean here?
I don't know, but it sounds negative. The context suggests that Gavrani is refusing somebody's request for her to provide some random hacks. Perhaps she intended it to mean 'thumbs down'.
It looks to me like a reference to a previous use of the term “hands down”?

Hence, hands down.
= which is why the term “hands down” was used (in some comment in the preceding text)
It looks to me like a reference to a previous use of the term “hands down”
It comes at . There is nothing before.
Hence, hands down.
Renuka Gavrani is Indian. This is an informal expression in Indian English. It means "I give up/I admit defeat" or "without any pretence of defending myself".

I've not seen it used in this way in AE/BE.
Right, so it doesn’t work as I thought. And in the OP example it seems to makes sense as “I give up”, or maybe “no way”. That is, it doesn’t seem to have the same intended meaning as our “hands down”, i.e. easily or by far [the best/worst, etc.].

But, interestingly, later on in the book she says:
I even read Robin Sharma’s book ‘The 5 AM Club’ and hands down, what an amazing book.
I even read Robin Sharma’s book ‘The 5 AM Club’ and hands down, what an amazing book.
I'd see that as a contextual nuance: "without any reservations/apologies".
When I read it and realised it wasn't the meaning of "hands down" I am familiar with ("he won hands down" = "he won easily/without any problem/etc."), my first thought was fairly similar to what @PaulQ gives as the Indian meaning ("give up"). I interpreted it to mean that the person will not continue to provide hacks (if you have your hands down, you are taking no action"). So I would assume it is the Indian meaning.
Yes, I’m sure you’re right. But I can’t find any verification of that use, which seems odd?

As for the other example in that book, that one seems to fit one of the definitions in the OED:
1936– hands down, adv. & adj.​
Used as a sentence adverb, expressing emphatic assertion of a superlative: without doubt; by a long way.​
As for the other example in that book, that one seems to fit one of the definitions in the OED:
1936– hands down, adv. & adj.​
Used as a sentence adverb, expressing emphatic assertion of a superlative: without doubt; by a long way.​
That's interesting, and the date makes sense.

I wonder if that usage was common in British English back in Imperial days. Perhaps it found its way into Indian English in that era. Then it stayed put in the subcontinent while it fell out of use elsewhere.
Could be, especially since that also explains how some aspects of American English differ from British.
To me, 2. in the OED makes most sense:

Hands down

1.a.With little or no effort; with ease; esp. in to win hands down.
Originally in Horse Racing, with reference to a jockey dropping the hands, and so relaxing his or her hold on the reins, when victory appears certain.
1853 She won with the most perfect ease imaginable, little Sherwood going past the post ‘hands down’. 28 August 4/3

1.b.Used as a sentence adverb, expressing emphatic assertion of a superlative: without doubt; by a long way.
1936 Hands down the best buy in Piedmont. Oakland (California) Tribune 18 October t5/1 (advertisement)

2. Submissively; without protest.
1896 He must ‘surrender, hands down, to the vicar’. Sheffield & Rotherham Independent 7 April 3/3
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