Is something which is easy to achieve a 'shoe-in' or a 'shoo-in'? If the former what's its origin ? I can see 'shoo' as the noise we make to drive geese, ducks, children and other reluctant movers though what 'in' means, unless in to some figurative pen , is not obvious.

Merriam-Webster's and American Heritage dictionaries and Worldnet give it as shoo-in, but don't offer an etymology.

Someone on another message board says that the Online Etymological Dictionary and World Wide Words say it began with horse racing and originally meant a horse that won because the race was fixed (it was shooed into the finish line).

[This message was edited by methos5000 on 05-15-03 at 06:46 PM.]

The commonly used spelling of "shoe in" makes it seem as if it were rooted in the action of a shoehorn.

In fact, the meaning comes from horse racing lingo: corrupt jockeys conspire and agree to hold back their mounts and to "shoo in," or urge forward, a slow horse on which they have bet.

In such a phony contest, the shoo-in is the only horse in the race that is trying to win.

Thanks. Here, in the Headquarters of Racing,we have encountered this activity on occasions ! I've only heard 'shoo/shoe in' recently and only from TV commentators on horse racing. Here it has no pejorative use and simply means that the horse has won without great effort or is expected to do so. It is surely 'shoo'it in to the winner's enclosure because all the jockey has to do to encourage the horse is, as it were, no more than saying 'shoo' at a fly or to a toddler to get it to move on.Incidentally I hope nobody out there thinks that every animal in every race is being ridden with the most serious intent to win. That is without bribery or corruption or 'race-fixing' in the criminal sense; it's just managing horses to the best effect without breaking the Rules of Racing, in particular the ones about a horse's sudden improvement in form, 'schooling' and the jockey not trying or not riding out a finish ( at least, that's what I think we say!)