Grammar Girl here, I'm in Yon Fogarty and you can think of me as your friendly guide to

the English language, writing, history, rules, and cool stuff.

Today I have a couple of super bowl theme topics for you, and if you're not into football,

I also have a topic for puppy bowl fans.

Let's get started.

According to the American Gaming Association, in 2019, people bet about $6 billion on the

outcome of the Super Bowl.

So I think it's safe to say that a lot of people are thinking about odds right now.

But do you want your team's odds to be high or low?

Low odds mean something is likely, and high odds mean something is unlikely.

But many people get the two confused.

High odds mean that if you've placed a bet, you'll win a high payout.

And low odds mean that if you've placed a bet, you'll win a lower payout.

For example, low odds are something like 2-1 against.

These odds mean something is somewhat likely to happen.

The odds are low that Squiggly will ask for a chocolate dessert.

Squiggly loves chocolate.

The odds are low that there'll be an earthquake in California in the next decade.

So if you had made a 2-1 bet for a dollar that Squiggly would ask for a chocolate dessert,

and he did, you would win $2.

High odds would be something like 99-1 against.

If you bet on a team with those odds, you'd be happy if they won because you'd win a lot

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