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old college try, the

old college try, the idiom

One's best effort, as in Come on, if we give it the old college try we just might be able to cut down this tree. This slangy expression, originally a cheer to urge a team on, dates from the 1930s when college football films were very popular.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.