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Let it ride

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Let it ride means to allow a situation to continue without interference, accepting risks or outcomes; poetically, it suggests surrender to fate, trust in process, or deliberate non-intervention amidst uncertainty or change.

Detailed Definition
Let it ride means to allow a situation, bet, decision, or unresolved matter to continue without interference. In poetry, the idiom can suggest passivity, trust, fatalism, recklessness, or strategic patience. Its gambling associations make it apt for poems about chance, risk, love, money, and fate. A speaker who lets it ride may be wise enough not to overcontrol events, or too afraid to act. The phrase helps explore the uneasy boundary between surrender, negligence, and faith in unfolding consequences.
Example
Example in poetry:
A gambling poem might have the weary player let it ride and trust the turning wheel; In a life poem, to let it ride can mean allowing events to unfold without interference; The phrase suggests risk, patience, or fatalism; A poet can use it to show surrender to chance.
Additional Notes
Let it ride means allow something to continue without interference, often accepting risk or postponing decision. The phrase has gambling associations, where winnings may be left staked. In poetry, it can express fatalism, patience, recklessness, or trust in unfolding events. Students should notice that the speaker chooses not to act. It pairs well with horses, cards, roads, tides, and the moral tension between wisdom and passivity.
Also Known As
allow continue
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