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You're taking the brunt normally when a storm of bad events hits you the hardest and deals most harm to you.

How would you call it when a storm of mostly unrelated positive events leaves you receiving most (potentially undeserved or unasked for) benefits?

(it doesn't have to be a single word - a neat expression, like would be just as fine)

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  • garnering the benefits
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 2:14
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    Note how "dodge the bullet" would be the other kind of antonym. @StoneyB: that seems to me as purposeful reaping of them, not just "falling victim".
    – SF.
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 2:52
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    To be sure, garner is often used today to mean to earn, and it is sometimes used in contexts where considerable effort is expended. But the root meaning of the word is to store, as in a granary, without respect to merit: "Some of these bloggers that supported Brian Moran consider the election result quite unfair, believing they did the heavy lifting while Deeds sat back and garnered the benefit." LINK
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 3:07
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    You can take the brunt - or more often - bear the brunt [of something], but I've never come across to take brunt before. Where do you see this usage?
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 3:35
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    Reap a windfall.
    – Autoresponder
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 3:52

3 Answers 3

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Following @SF's response to my comment, am posting the phrase to come into a windfall as an answer.

Bearing the brunt refers to putting up with the worst of a bad situation/circumstance, while to come into a windfall or reap a windfall refers to the converse - sudden, unexpected good fortunes.

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You'd get the lion's share if you got most of the benefits.

Personally I think including (potentially undeserved or unasked for) in the request may be asking a bit much. OP might have to settle for an "undeservedly lion's share".

Both windfall (unexpected benefit) and lion's share tend to apply to a single event. For OP's "storm" of gains, perhaps hit a lucky/winning streak or be on a roll would be better.

In Britain, if people felt such a lucky winner was undeserving of his good fortune, they might say...

The jammy so-and-so hit a lucky streak (or more likely, jammy bastard).

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  • @WillHunting: I'd go for "lion's undeserved share" if anything... That might work in general for that, but in my case it's not entirely undeserved - it's a honestly earned but disproportionately generous reward. [Specifically, the protagonist made a cup of excellent coffee for a god, and receives a reward which is only proportional by the god's standards, while all reap benefits of the god's excellent mood...]
    – SF.
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 8:40
  • I'm guessing undeserved could be omitted more often than not, as that could probably be inferred from the context. In other words, if someone receives the lion share of good fortune for the week (say, by buying a winning lottery ticket in the same week they win a new car on a television game show), there's no need to add a qualifier.
    – J.R.
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 9:06
  • @SF: Would it be the other people who inadvertently receive the god's fortune that are experiencing this "antonym of bear the brunt"?
    – tylerharms
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 13:41
  • @tylerharms: No, imagine the direct: there's an audit that reveals serious problems. Everyone loses christmas bonuses, but the manager is fired and fined on top of that - he takes the brunt. Now here everyone is receiving moderate benefits, but the protagonist gets a totally over-the-top reward.
    – SF.
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 22:15
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I would offer the idiom "to make hay" in this context. As in the full expression, "make hay while the sun shines," it suggests a temporary windfall that could be optimized without extraordinary effort.

make hay: to use an opportunity to get the most benefit.

"While oversight in the finance industry was minimal, I made hay by running a ponzi scheme."

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