When 'verb1' and 'verb2' are opposite in meaning, can you freely use the construction "verb1 or verb2" to mean "whether + subject + verb1 or verb2", if the meaning of "whether + subject" is recoverable from context?
For example, the expression 'win or lose' is listed as an "idiom" in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
whether one succeeds or fails
Win or lose, we'll give it our best effort.
If it's an idiom, the following should be ungrammatical:
Succeed or fail, we'll give it our best effort.
But I do find some attested examples having "succeed or fail" used in this way:
a. What else could he do? They had talked of escaping, which was against the rules, conscience told him. Also, succeed or fail, the attempt would result in his torture and death as a blood relative of the schemers. ("Essay Review of Adam Johnson's The Orphan Master's Son and Blaine Harden's Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Journey from North Korea to Freedom in the West")
b. The master turned down his mouth and shook his head. 'Succeed or fail, he will never be finished with you. You are his, for bad or for good.' (Lord of Slaughter)
c. Sometimes, it takes more than one extra shoot to resolve the issue, but every time, succeed or fail, you learn a lot. (How Do-It-All-Yourself Shoots Can Improve Your Photography)
Granted, this type of 'succeed or fail' is not as productive as 'win or lose', but the former does seem to be in use. I know of no grammar rule where you can elide 'whether + subject' in the construction "whether + subject + verb1 or verb2", if the meaning of "whether + subject" is recoverable from context.
Is this type of elision always possible, albeit not always idiomatic, when 'verb1' and 'verb2' have opposite meanings? Or is "succeed or fail" just another less frequently used "idiom"?