Silver lining (idiom)
A silver lining is a metaphor for optimism in vernacular English, which means a negative occurrence may have a positive aspect to it.[2]
Origin
[edit]John Milton coined the phrase 'silver lining' in his poem Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634:
I see ye visibly, and now believe
That he, the Supreme Good, to whom all things ill
Are but as slavish officers of vengeance,
Would send a glistering guardian, if need were
To keep my life and honor unassailed.
Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night?
I did not err; there does a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night,
And casts a gleam over this tufted grove.[3][4]
It is a metaphor referring to the silvery, shining edges of a cloud backlit by the Sun or the Moon.
See also
[edit]- Idiom
- Every cloud has a silver lining
- Felix culpa
- Silver Lining (disambiguation)
- Is the glass half empty or half full?
The dictionary definition of silver lining at Wiktionary
References
[edit]- ^ Cartoon from Punch, Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, September 22, 1920 by Various
- ^ every cloud has a silver lining idiom definition.
- ^ "'Every cloud has a silver lining' - the meaning and origin of this phrase". 11 December 2023.
- ^ "Lining, N. (1), Sense 2.b". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford UP. September 2023. doi:10.1093/OED/4708232904. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
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