Hostage to fortune?

[knowall]

Does anybody know what this phrase means! It was used in a meeting I was at the other day and whilst there were knowing looks around the table, my guess is that only the user really understood what it means!!

[woodpam]

I'm sure Quizmonster can tell you where it comes from, but it means that the future depends on circumstances which cannot be reliably predicted. "Fortune" in this case means "chance" and might be good or bad. Therefore to be a hostage to fortune means that you are in a position where fortune (chance) will determine the outcome. Although that might mean a good outcome if things which are outside your control go well, it could just as easily mean that the outcome is unfavourable. An example of this is the stock market where we are constantly reminded that the value of stock may go down.

[Quizmonster]

Certainly Woodpam knows what it means, too, as shown in her fine answer. If you really do want to know the origin, it was first written by Francis Bacon, in the early 1600s, as follows: "He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune."