local hero
- noun
- The firefighters who rescued the children from the burning building were celebrated as local heroes by the entire community.
- become a local hero
You, you create local heroes because, because, because representation matters, right?
- You, you create local heroes because, because, because representation matters, right?
Examples
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In our small town, Sarah became a local hero after organizing a food drive to help families in need.
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By the early 1980s, Ueland had become a local hero.
Academic text (2007) -
So who is this new local hero?
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A great ride by our local hero and champion.
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Mr Anderson over there is something of a local hero.
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Prince William greeted like a local hero as he arrived with his father.
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The four became local heroes when the company threatened to fire them, and the Japanese eventually backed down.
Academic text (1998) -
Kraft refused to let that happen and became somewhat of a local hero.
Blog text (12) -
He was something of a local hero but had earned himself some enemies as well.
Fiction book (1992) -
Jerry Richardson, local hero here, cashed out at the right time and bought himself a pro football franchise.
Blog text (2)
Synonyms
A person admired for brave actions and good qualities
A very famous person admired for great achievements
A real person admired for brave, kind actions that help others
A person many people in a town or local area admire and like
How Admired
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'local' (of a particular area or community) with 'hero' (a person admired for bravery or noble deeds); together they straightforwardly denote someone admired within their own community. This adjective+noun compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows ordinary semantic rules, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Local hero comes from the simple idea of a local person acting like a hero in your town. When someone saved neighbors or helped after a disaster, people would call them a 'local hero', so today the phrase means 'a person admired for good deeds in their own community'.