JustASC

Ha’aretz reports on the Oscars, and how the Argentinean film “The Secret in Their Eyes” bested the Israeli entry, “Ajami”:

The producer of Israeli Oscar hopeful Ajami on Monday expressed no surprise at being pipped to the ‘best foreign film’ award by Argentina’s The Secret in Their Eyes, saying the judges were bound to favor the more ‘American-oriented’ entry.

“We mainly just feel relieved,” Moshe Danon told Army Radio. “As usual, everyone knew in advance what would happen and we had every expectation the Argentinean film would win.”

What the hell does ”pipped to” mean? Turns out it’s a Britishism meaning “to be beaten in a competition or race by a very small amount.” As in this headline from the Times of London:

How US was nearly pipped to first moon rock samples