to cry all the way to the bank
- idiom
- Informal
:
reírse hasta el banco
- Even after the bad reviews, the author cried all the way to the bank as her book topped the sales charts.
Examples
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She might pretend she's unhappy about her contract, but she'll cry all the way to the bank.
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He'll just cry all the way to the bank after selling his startup for millions!
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After critics panned his movie, the director cried all the way to the bank when it became a box office hit.
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After the critics panned her movie, she still managed to cry all the way to the bank.
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After his controversial investment paid off, he cried all the way to the bank.
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Despite the criticism about his business model, she cried all the way to the bank with her success.
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When his new app became popular, he couldn't help but cry all the way to the bank.
Synonyms
Making a lot of money while pretending to be unhappy
How Profitable
Surface Forms
Morphology
cry + all + the + way + to + the + bank
The components 'cry' (complain), 'all the way to' (as far as / up to), and 'bank' (place of money) give a partial clue: one can infer someone is complaining yet ending up at the bank (i.e. making money). However, the conventional sense — profiting despite complaints or criticism — is a metaphorical, culture-specific extension and not fully predictable from the words alone, so learners need some exposure to the idiom.
Etymology
Cry all the way to the bank comes from the image of someone who cries (cry) while walking to the bank because they have just made a lot of money, even if they act unhappy. That's why the phrase means 'to make a lot of money' while seeming to complain.