Denotation of the phrase, "Choose and lose"

Question

"choose and lose"

Contextually, I have seen it used to chastise someone who has chosen a life of drugs and drifting instead of providing for his children.

However, a word-by-word analysis implies that no matter the choice, the person will lose.

Reconciling the usage with the analysis, one might interpret it as "based on your choices, you lose."

Questions (if any are off-topic, please let me know and I'll update the question):

Is my reconciliation correct, is the idiom correct, and/or is the word-by-word analysis correct (for possible usage)?
Is this an informal idiom, or it is useful in formal communication?
What is the origin of the phrase?

Malvolio · Answer

Hard to say, but my guess would be that it is a satirical variation on "Choose or Lose", the slogan used by MTV from 1992 to 2011 to encourage young adults to vote.

In its original form, it expressed the idea that failing to vote was a worse decision than supporting any particular candidate -- an noble idea whose underlying vacuity is vividly demonstrated by this year's campaign.

Its altered form suggests something akin to Emma Goldman's complaint, "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."

Shawn in PA · Answer

“Choose and lose” refers to a multiple choice test. We used that back in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s when I was in school. Another term with the same meaning is “multiple guess”.

Denotation of the phrase, "Choose and lose"

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