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\u2018Rags to riches\u2019 means the change from having no money at all to having a lot of money. It can also be used in the context of privilege, respect, power, social standing, etc.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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The idiom has been in use since the 1880\u2019s, and it is said that the American author Horatio Alger wrote the first documented rags-to-riches stories, though the first exact use of the phrase is unknown.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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It is a noun phrase, when used in sentences, it is preceded by a verb (moved, went, transitioned, climbed, etc) and the preposition \u2018from.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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It is a famous trope in fiction storytelling, you\u2019ll often find protagonists in books and movies rising from nothing and ultimately ending up as a hero.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nUnderstanding Rags to Riches<\/h2>\n
Rags to riches is an idiom that means to move from extreme poverty to a state of being well off. It can be used to describe the dramatic change from scarcity to abundance of power and recognition, too.<\/p>\n
So, you use it either to talk about money or social standing.<\/p>\n
A \u201cRag\u201d in its literal sense is a piece of old clothing torn from a larger sheet that you use for cleaning purposes. In the idiom, it refers to the concept of bare survival.<\/p>\n
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Part of the reason why rags to riches became a famous phrase is that it follows the rule of three. According to psychology, the human mind tends to remember things grouped in three components better than other combinations.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re observant, you\u2019ll find that a lot of the idioms we use today are made of three words simply because it was easier to remember them.<\/p>\n
Rags to riches also uses alliteration<\/a>. This concept in English refers to the same sound occurring at the beginning of adjacent words. Both the main words in \u2018rags to riches\u2019 begin with the \u201cr\u201d sound that makes it roll off the tongue.<\/p>\n
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<\/picture><\/p>\nOrigin of Rags to Riches<\/h3>\n
No one is really confident about the first time rags to riches was used in the literature.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, we\u2019ve repeatedly seen the context of this idiom across history, in legends, religious stories, folktales, biographies, etc, all centered on people who had humble beginnings but they rose up to influence.<\/p>\n
The phrase itself has been in use since at least the 1880s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some sources say that the earliest usage of \u2018rags to riches\u2019 is attributed to the American author Horatio Alger.<\/p>\n
Alger wrote stories of poor boys who went through harsh circumstances in life with persistence and eventually became prosperous young men.<\/p>\n
Rags to Riches in Real Life<\/h2>\n
I\u2019m sure as you read through the meaning and context of the phrase rags to riches, you must at least have recalled someone<\/em> you know of who had no social or financial standing some time ago, but now they\u2019re doing great.<\/p>\n
These stories are a great reminder that change, no matter how uncomfortable it may be, is possible!<\/p>\n
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- Famous people<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
There are lots and lots of people you\u2019ve heard about in history books who stood from nowhere, but they ended up with great power and privilege, which is why they are in books.<\/p>\n
Many modern-day famous people also had humble beginnings.<\/p>\n
Abraham Lincoln, long before he became the 16th President of the United States, was born into a family so poor that his early years were spent in a simple log cabin. But he somehow worked his way up to lead an entire nation.<\/p>\n
Genghis Khan was born on a harsh Mongolian land where he was deserted by his clan after his father\u2019s death. As he grew up, he united the tribes to build the largest contiguous land empire in history.<\/p>\n
Emperor Diocletian began his life in the low ranks of society as the son of a freed slave. He, too, rose up to become one of Rome\u2019s most powerful emperors.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most interesting example of rags to riches in modern times is J.K. Rowling\u2019s. She suffered rejection after rejection for her Harry Potter manuscript as a single mom barely scraping by taking care of her child.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until years later that the publishing world finally said yes to create a Harry Potter universe that flipped the course of her life.<\/p>\n
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- Everyday Examples<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Although rags to riches is a great plot device in fiction storytelling where the transition is almost always attributed to a person\u2019s hard work and talent. Life, unfortunately, doesn\u2019t work the same way.<\/p>\n
Most of us don\u2019t make global headlines when we improve our circumstances. In most cases, a winning lottery ticket or windfall inheritance can shift someone\u2019s entire life overnight.<\/p>\n
Hard work alone makes us move up the financial ladder only by a few steps.<\/p>\n
- Everyday Examples<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Famous people<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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