Green’s Dictionary of Slang

the longest possible odds, an absolute certainty.

1821		‘An Amateur’ Real Life in London I 606: Somebody must make a mull* — but Randall’s the man — he is the favourite of the day, all the world to a penny roll. [* Mull — Defeat, loss, or disappointment].
1848		Newry Examiner 8 July 2/1: We wager the world to a China orange that the ‘habituees’ of Astley’s circus would beat an Eclipse.
1854		Belfast Mercury 14 Oct. 3/5: The rest of the battle was all on our side; the world against a China oprange, in fact, they bolted.
1865		Potter’s Electric News 4 Oct. 3/1: The race [...] was all the world to a China orange on the boat which went off with the lead.
1879		Morn. Post (London) 27 Sept. 4/3: The familiar wager of ‘the world against a China orange’ not inaptly represents the chances in favour of British infantry [...] when attacked by naked savages.
1887		Wkly Freeman’s Jrnl (Dublin) 3 Sept. 5/3: The fight that is on foot between the Government and the League [...] is not a fair handicap. It is all the world to a China orange against the challenger.
1892		Leeds Times 5 Nov. 6/4: It looked all the world to a China orange that we were going to score at least.
1900		R. Marsh Seen and Unseen 158: It looked all the world to a china orange that we were going to score at last.
1908		Leamington Spa Courier 4 Sept. 4/1: The Forthcoming Motor Saturnalia [...] It is all the world to a China orange that a catastrophe will ensue.
1927		P. Wentworth Huey and Cry 45: All the world to a China orange — yes, that was undoubtedly it.
1931		W.G. Bond Three Things That Matter 67: It is all the world to a China orange that the Aztec philosopher’s deity would have possessed all the attributes of the head god of the Aztec faith.
1958		S. Moss In the Track of Speed 29: For the 35 laps final (103 miles) it looked all the world to a China orange on a first-class match between Farina and Fangio.