Agora Forums
 
   
 
BE LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK
Posted: 13 June 2004 10:14 PM   [ Ignore ]
Sr. Member
Avatar
RankRankRankRank
Total Posts:  131
Joined  2004-01-25

Any suggestions about the origins of this idiom? What exactly does it mean? Thanks smile

 Signature 

“The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.”&&Horace; Walpole &&

Profile
 
 
Posted: 14 June 2004 12:00 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]
Sr. Member
Avatar
RankRankRankRank
Total Posts:  3773
Joined  2002-08-01

In this case, the person who is being ridiculed or, in some cases, scorned, is profiting despite popular concensus.

I think that’s the gist of it.

In other words, everyone else may be laughing at you, but you are laughing right back… all the way to the bank.

-Tim

 Signature 

For myself, I find I become less cynical rather than more… and realize that men’s hearts are not often as bad as their acts, and very seldom as bad as their words. - JRR Tolkien

Profile
 
 
Posted: 14 June 2004 12:12 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]
Sr. Member
Avatar
RankRankRankRank
Total Posts:  1233
Joined  2004-04-29

I’m sure this expression is far simpler.

  "I would advise you against selling your share of the company. The deal might seem appealing now, but with the new range of products starting to sell well the profits are soon to start rolling in. If Matthews gets his hands on your shares, he’ll be laughing all the way to the bank."

I think ‘laughing all the way to the bank’ is an expression for unexpected, sudden wealth. The kind of thing that would get you chuckling down the street as you went to pay the cheque in.

- Garzo, who sobs all the way home  :’(

 Signature 

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.&&-The First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 13.

Profile
 
 
Posted: 14 June 2004 03:36 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]
Sr. Member
Avatar
RankRankRankRank
Total Posts:  3773
Joined  2002-08-01

But is it necessarily used (exclusively) for increased monetary wealth, though…?  It can be used for any thorough advantage gained, can’t it?  Seems as though I’ve heard it used that way.

-Tim
the ever-curious

 Signature 

For myself, I find I become less cynical rather than more… and realize that men’s hearts are not often as bad as their acts, and very seldom as bad as their words. - JRR Tolkien

Profile
 
 
Posted: 14 June 2004 09:42 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 4 ]
Sr. Member
Avatar
RankRankRankRank
Total Posts:  130
Joined  2004-04-17

Hi, Tim!

What happened to your picture? . . . Oh, now I get it—the camera took it!

Regards

Profile
 
 
Posted: 15 June 2004 02:10 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 5 ]
Sr. Member
Avatar
RankRankRankRank
Total Posts:  839
Joined  2004-04-10

[quote author=McKenzie link=board=idiom;num=1087211693;start=0#4 date=06/14/04 at 18:42:43]Hi, Tim!

What happened to your picture? . . . Oh, now I get it—the camera took it!

Regards

Tim has rushed off to the bank.  (Haven’t you seen the portraits at Hogwarts?)

Perry

 Signature 

“...or do I misconstrue?” (acronym = odim?) David Gaynes (too many times to put a date on it!)

Profile
 
 
Posted: 15 June 2004 01:04 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 6 ]
Sr. Member
Avatar
RankRankRankRank
Total Posts:  3773
Joined  2002-08-01

You guys!  ::)  :D  ;D

 Signature 

For myself, I find I become less cynical rather than more… and realize that men’s hearts are not often as bad as their acts, and very seldom as bad as their words. - JRR Tolkien

Profile
 
 
Posted: 15 June 2004 02:39 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 7 ]
Sr. Member
Avatar
RankRankRankRank
Total Posts:  2116
Joined  2003-02-11

I think ‘laughing all the way to the bank’ is an expression for unexpected, sudden wealth. The kind of thing that would get you chuckling down the street as you went to pay the cheque in.

No. I’d vote for Tim on this one. The way I use the term is this: While you may think you’ve won a point, I end up with the money. So I’ll be laughing (at you) all the way to the bank. It’s kind of a long-winded way of saying "neeners".

- PW

 Signature 

Omnia mea porto mecum.

Profile
 
 
Posted: 15 June 2004 08:12 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 8 ]
Sr. Member
Avatar
RankRankRankRank
Total Posts:  1254
Joined  2004-03-10

When finishing an especially tedious assignment and lamenting over stupid end customers, unresponsive middlemen etc., I am more likely to think of it as "crying all the way to the bank".

 Signature 

“Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.” - Groucho Marx

Profile
 
 
Posted: 15 June 2004 08:48 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 9 ]
Sr. Member
Avatar
RankRankRankRank
Total Posts:  567
Joined  2004-05-21

Tim has rushed off to the bank.  (Haven’t you seen the portraits at Hogwarts?)

Thanks to you, Perry, I’ll be laughing all the way to my swimming pool in a minute, xDDDD

     Regards:

        WS. (40ºC)

 Signature 

[I]Nuestras horas son minutos / cuando esperamos saber / y siglos cuando sabemos / lo que se puede aprender.[/I] Antonio Machado

Profile
 
 
   
 
 
‹‹ You asked for it...      Jerry or Jury ››