Slim Chance and Fat Chance

Posted by Scott Marsden on July 28, 2000

Heh heh...

I knew there was only a slim chance of finding out why these two phrases mean the same thing!

Where I come from, the 2 are used to mean similar things (ie. not much chance at all), but are used differently.

Fat chance is more of a standalone statement. One person might ask a question, and the response will be
"fat chance!"

Slim chance is more often used in a sentence, as in "there is a slim chance of that happening."

I think, as has been alluded to earlier, that they are both regional sayings that became part of the greater store of colloquialisms.