- Meaning
- This idiom, vulgar and politically charged, describes recklessly or greedily selling off valuable, cherished, or sacred assets for short-term gain, as if prostituting a family’s prized silver for quick cash, with crude phrasing amplifying the betrayal. It conveys a shameful betrayal of heritage or trust, often used in economic, cultural, or political contexts to condemn exploitation of communal or inherited wealth. The phrase carries a tone of disgust, moral outrage, or biting sarcasm, reflecting cultural disdain for greed and the human tendency to sacrifice legacy for profit. It resonates in scenarios of privatization or cultural sellouts, capturing the crassness of commodifying the sacred, and its domestic imagery adds a layer of personal betrayal, evoking a family’s loss. The idiom is deliberately offensive, making it a controversial metaphor for the cost of greed or disloyalty.
- Origin
- The phrase likely emerged in 20th-century Britain, rooted in post-war anxieties about selling national assets, with ‘family silver’ as a metaphor for heritage, as noted in political speeches. Its crude form appeared in a 1967 *The London Worker* article, slamming elites ‘whoring out the family silver’ for profit. The idiom gained traction in the 1970s, reflecting Thatcher-era privatization debates, as seen in *The Guardian* critiques of asset sales. Its use grew in British and American English, particularly in economic and cultural contexts, amplified by media like *The New York Times* during the 1980s’ corporate raids. The phrase’s adoption in Commonwealth English came through British influence, and its crude imagery and applicability to betrayal ensured its enduring use in English-speaking cultures, from economic rants to cultural laments.
- Variants
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- Whoring Out the Family Silver
- Whore Out the Family Silver
- Selling the Family Silver
- Pimping the Family Silver
- Examples
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- They’re whoring out the family silver, selling off public land for profit.
- Whore out the family silver, and you’ll betray our heritage for cash.
- Selling the family silver, the company auctioned its historic assets.
- Pimping the family silver, they commercialized sacred traditions.
- Whoring out the family silver, he liquidated the estate for quick gain.
- Sell the family silver, and you’ll lose the town’s legacy.
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