hands down 的詞源

贏得某物 hands down（1855）源自賽馬，來自騎手在輕鬆獲勝時放鬆繮繩的手勢。

The Two Thousand Guinea Stakes was not the best contested one that it has been our fortune to assist at. ... [T]hey were won by Meteor, with Scott for his rider; who went by the post with his hands down, the easiest of all easy half-lengths. Wiseacre certainly did the best in his power to spoil his position, and Misdeal was at one time a little vexatious. [The Sportsman, report from April 26, 1840]

“兩千基尼賽馬並不是我們有幸參加的最好的比賽。...他們被 Meteor 贏得，Scott 是他的騎手； 他輕鬆地走過終點線，是所有容易的半個身位中最容易的。Wiseacre 確實盡了他的力量來破壞他的位置，Misdeal 曾經有點惱人。[The Sportsman，1840年4月26日的報道]

古希臘語中有 akoniti “沒有鬥爭，容易”，來自 akonitos（形容詞），字面意思是“沒有灰塵”，特指“沒有競技場的灰塵”。