"Keeping Up With the Joneses" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
Channel: Superduper English Idioms
Date: 20/08/2020

0:00 - How to Say, “Keeping up with the Joneses.”
0:19 - Examples of “Keeping up with the Joneses.”
1:11 - Meaning of “Keeping up with the Joneses.”
2:53 - Origin of “Keeping up with the Joneses.”
4:41 - More Examples of “Keeping up with the Joneses.”
5:12 - Conclusion

“Keeping up with the Joneses.”

You may have heard someone refer to, “keeping up with the Joneses,” when talking about conspicuous consumption, or keeping up appearances.

“Our neighbours just got a new electric car! We need to get one, too, so that we can keep up with the Joneses,” your partner might say while looking at their new car.

Maybe your friend is giving you financial advice, “Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses… you’ll go broke trying to appear as rich as they are.”

“I need new shoes!” your teenager might say. “Did one of your friends get a new pair? Yours are perfectly fine, we can’t afford to keep up with the Joneses!” you might respond.

As you can tell, “keeping up with the Joneses,” is the practice of trying to appear as wealthy as someone in your social circle, even though you are not...

… it is when you fear losing social status to someone else because you appear to be unable to afford what they can afford.

Humans are a social animal - we rely on social connections for our mental health - so it is no wonder that people try to “keep up with the Joneses”.

People don’t want to appear lower on the social hierarchy - money plays a big factor in your social status, of course - so many people will borrow, get into debt, just to maintain their rank.

People also don’t want to be different from their peers, so if all your friends are taking Caribbean vacations, you are probably going to take one, too.

“Keeping up with the Joneses” is the perfect idiom to describe the act of trying to maintain social status by having what others have, getting what others get.

The idiom comes from a popular American comic strip of the same name, created by Arthur R. Momand, and ran from 1913-1940.

In the comic strip, the McGinis family struggles to “keep up” with their neighbours, the Joneses family. It has been a popular idiom ever since.

“Keeping up with the Joneses,” is easily observed in teenagers, who often do and buy what their friends are doing and buying, so as to maintain their standing in the group.

As adults, however, we have hopefully gotten past the need to “keep up with the Joneses”, and cease to see our material possessions as a measure of our worth.

If you feel that you are being judged by those in your social circle, or even relatives, it is time to either stop caring so much or get a new social circle.

At the same time, you may feel that someone out there looks down upon you because you aren’t “keeping up with the Joneses,” but the reality is that most people think only about themselves most of the time.

“Keeping up with the Joneses has gotten ridiculous with the advent of social media,” your partner might say as she scrolls through her feed.

You may be meeting with your financial advisor, “If you want to reach your financial goals, it’s time to stop trying to keep up with the Joneses.”

All that said, don’t forget to use the idiom, “keeping up with the Joneses,” whenever you find yourself, or someone else, spending money or getting into debt just for perceived social status!

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