phrase-requestssingle-word-requests
What's the word in the phrase
winning by _____
To describe the scenario when one enters a form of competition and their entry or performance, whatever it may be, happens to be fairly below par but they still win because by happenstance the rest of the competitors were miraculously all worse?
It isn't
winning by default
Because it describes the scenario of winning because the rest of the competitors happened to not show or were disqualified.
As the commenters on the question note, your examples seem just to show people saying harsh things-- perhaps they misspoke, or regretted their words as soon as they spoke them, but language is founded on the assumption that we mean what we say and say what we mean.
There are cases where what one fails to say can cast an otherwise innocuous statement in a negative light. If I ask "did I seem like a stammering cretin in that meeting?" and you reply "I didn't notice you stammering", that implies you did think I was a cretin, even though you didn't say that and may not have meant it. This is usually referred to as "damning with faint praise".
There is the term choking in psychology. It is performing worse under pressure or if you are expected to perform well. It is also mentioned that, if you are being watched when you are performing a task, it means that performing well in this task is important. Thus, people perform worse.
The term choking is usually used in sports but you can choke in social interactions or anywhere.
Below is an explanation of choking and an example from the book "The Curse of the Self : Self-Awareness, Egotism, and the Quality of Human Life" By Mark R. Leary Professor of Psychology Duke University (2004).
Social loafing is a related term also. It is not exactly about being watched but you perform less when you are in a group or if there are people around.
In the social psychology of groups, social loafing is the phenomenon of people exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone.
Best Answer
Actually, I think "win by default" IS often used to refer to this situation. Perhaps metaphorically: We didn't win because there was LITERALLY no competition, but because the competition that existed was so weak that it hardly counted. People will say "practically won by default" or "virtually won by default". But still, nothing in that phrase implies that you (or your team) was weak, just that the competition was very weak relative to you.
Barring that, I don't know of a phrase in that form that explicitly means, winning because the competition was so weak. I can't swear that there isn't one, but nothing comes to mind.
People say "it was an easy win" meaning you were much better than the competition. Again, though, doesn't necessarily indicate that your side was weak.
"The competition was weak".
That's all I can think of.