the.com/brass ring
The prize you grab by leaning dangerously far off a moving carousel.
means The symbol of a top prize or opportunity, especially one you have to take a risk or act fast to seize.
from Comes from old carousel rides, where a mechanical arm dispensed metal rings for riders to grab as they passed — most were iron, but one was brass, and snagging it won you a free ride. The literal game faded, but 'grab the brass ring' endured as shorthand for chasing the one grab-able shot at success.
- origin
- Real rings on carousels, grab one, win a free ride
- irony
- Usually iron, painted to look valuable
- meaning shift
- Now means any big opportunistic grab, no horse required
- idiom cousin
- Related to go for broke, not go for gold