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I have an idiom on the tip of my tongue, or at least I think I do — the meaning I want is roughly “to hesitate or falter on a task, when it’s almost completed”. The phrase that first came to my mind was “to balk at the last jump”, but (while certainly serviceable) that doesn’t seem to be an established idiom, nor do any of the variations of it I’ve tried searching for. Can anyone place such a phrase?

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    Snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Turn gold into lead?
    – bib
    Commented Mar 30, 2014 at 0:24
  • There's many a slip between the cup and the lips.
    – Fattie
    Commented Mar 30, 2014 at 6:51

5 Answers 5

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You're very close:

to falter at the final hurdle

Reasonably recent examples of the metaphor include:

  • Liverpool restaurant owner determined not to "falter at the final hurdle" after 'tough' lockdown

[Elle May Rice; MSN]

  • Rugby: Ponty falter at the final hurdle: DOUBLE dreams died for Pontypridd against a dominant Llanelli

[WalesOnline]

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    Similarly, you can falter at or stumble over the finishing line.
    – Shoe
    Commented Mar 30, 2014 at 9:22
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To get cold feet

Commonly used for doubts before marriage, but also used for hesitation in completing a task. It has an interesting history, as discussed here: Why do we get cold feet?

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To have a (sudden) change of heart might be the phrase you're looking for.

  • It means to have a sudden reversal of one's feelings, intentions, opinions, etc.

E.g. He had planned on retiring and, at the last moment, he had a change of heart.

Or, you might do also with:

To have second thoughts e.g. He had planned on retiring but, at the last moment, he had second thoughts.

And

To waver in the homestretch.

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  • i guess "second thoughts" with an s is (more?) common, just BTW. Or "a second thought." People also say confusing variants like "thought twice" "thought twice about it" "thought again" "but then I thought twice" etc.
    – Fattie
    Commented Mar 30, 2014 at 6:48
  • @JoeBlow Thank you for pointing out, Joe. I actually had second thoughts over "second thoughts". I thought -- obviously erroneously -- that, by analogy with "on second thought", "to have second thought" might have some currency in the US. And so, the source I checked on to support that claim was apparently an exceptionally poor one. I should have tried GoogleNgrams instead. :-) edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/05/03/greece.strikes
    – Elian
    Commented Mar 30, 2014 at 9:10
  • By all means, "on second thought" is also very common. "to have second thought" would probably not be heard, it would be "to have second thoughts". (But then, there's no real situation in which you'd actually say that tense: you'd say: he's having second thoughts, and then he has a second thought, he had a second thought, he had second thoughts, he suddenly had a second thought about it, he was about to get married but he had second thoughts.) Also heard is: he was about to leave but he thought twice, he was about to buy but he thought twice about it, you better think twice. Etc.
    – Fattie
    Commented Mar 30, 2014 at 9:26
  • en passant .. que dans mon opinion personnelle 100%. NGrams est complètement inutile, en ce qui concerne, "spoken English". bon weekend de cote d'or!
    – Fattie
    Commented Mar 30, 2014 at 9:29
  • @JoeBlow Très belle région la Côte d'Or, Joe! Bon week-end gastronomique!
    – Elian
    Commented Mar 30, 2014 at 9:34
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To opt out/ pull out/ withdraw at the last minute OR at the eleventh hour

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Procrastination covers any first, second, last or any thoughts that you might have.

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