the world and his wife
Appearance
English
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Noun
[edit]the world and his wife pl (plural only)
- (hyperbolic, chiefly UK, Australia) Everyone; a great crowd; a jumbled assortment of people.
- The world and his wife were at the opening – we could barely move.
- 1957 July 4, General Secretary, The Textile Institute, A Guide to Careers: No. 32: Textile Technology, New Scientist, page 42,
- The world and his wife are the customers for whom the textile industry supplies the greatest necessity next to food, and some of the greatest luxuries.
- 1972 (1905), Natsume Sōseki, Aiko Ito, Graeme Wilson (translators), I Am a Cat (吾輩は猫である), Volume 2, 2002, combined edition, page 187,
- “ […] But they have to consider what the world and his wife will say, and when dealing with the world one simply cannot be too careful.”
- 1998, Kasey Michaels, Indiscreet, published 2000, page 229:
- “Why not just hire a crier to go around the city, telling all the world and his wife — all the world and our wives — we had our turns riding Connie to hounds?”
- 2001, advertisement, quoted in 2001, Guy Cook, The Discourse of Advertising, page 112,
- Gripping stuff, Subaru four-wheel drive. The world and his wife′s favourite in fact.
- Synonym: all the world and Little Billing
Synonyms
[edit]- See also Thesaurus:everybody.
References
[edit]- Cambridge Idioms Dictionary, 2nd ed., Cambridge University Press, 2006
- http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/the+world+and+his+wife