silver spoon
5
3.6
- noun
- /ˈsɪlvər spun/
- Informal
:
nacer en cuna de oro
- Sure, if you're an upper-class white male born with a silver spoon in your mouth, had the best education money can buy, don't have any health issues, are very good looking, etc., then yes, you're at the top of the privilege ladder.
- born with a silver spoon
If, if I was born with a silver spoon and everything was given to me and life came easy.
- If, if I was born with a silver spoon and everything was given to me and life came easy.
- Like I do respect Nigel Benn and Connor Benn because Connor Benn always says I grew up with a silver spoon.
- And you spoke about your dad sort of despised that, that silver spoon attitude.
- Some are teethed on a silver spoon with the stars strung for a rattle.
- Well, I, you know, they had a silver spoon in their mouth or they're so lucky.
- Because I'm I have to phrase mine a lot more than you because I get put in with the silver spoon guys, because I'm a just a white man.
- But I would have thought, well, you know, Sir Patrick Stewart, posh upbringing, posh education, silver spoon in his mouth it that's those are the assumptions that I would have made.
Examples
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We were all born with silver spoons in our mouths simply because we are all Americans.
Blog text (1) -
Growing up with a silver spoon in my mouth, I was told abuse happened to other women.
Blog text (12) -
I was born with a silver spoon.
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It's obvious to me that you must be a transplant from some other location and had a silver spoon in your mouth.
Blog text (1) -
The fact is, it is hard growing up today if you weren't born with a silver spoon.
Blog text (12) -
Whereas those born with a silver spoon in their mouths never truly have to worry about whether or not they get to see the next school year.
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Mitt Romney is a millionaire on his own, though it helps to have been born with a silver spoon.
Blog text (30) -
So Mitt Romney was born with a silver spoon in his mouth because his dad worked hard, made something of himself, and paid Mitt's way through college and law school.
Blog text (13) -
I do think that Romney has more to offer this country from his understanding of business and government than President Obama can, but that has to be tempered by empathy for those who weren't born with a silver spoon.
Blog text (10) -
Many believe that those born with a silver spoon have an easier life than others.
Synonyms
14
6.3
A lot of money and valuable things that a person or place has
1
5.5
Wealth passed down in rich families for many generations
A childhood in a rich family with many advantages
Antonyms
How Privileged
Surface Forms
Morphology
silver + spoon
While 'silver' signals value and could hint at wealth, the literal combination 'silver spoon' (or the full proverb 'born with a silver spoon in his mouth') uses a cultural image that is not directly compositional: the spoon-in-mouth element does not transparently convey 'born into privilege' without prior exposure. This makes the expression partially predictable from its parts but ultimately idiomatic and requiring cultural/idiomatic knowledge.
Etymology
Silver spoon may come from the old habit of giving rich babies real silver spoons as gifts. A baby 'with a silver spoon' showed a wealthy family, so the phrase now means 'born into wealth' or having a 'privileged upbringing'.