Thursday, April 28, 2011

MI Printing: Word Myths: "Bringing Home the Bacon"

In the 1970's Enjoli perfume released a TV commercial that featured a modification of a Peggy Lee song I'm a Woman.  They reran a similar, updated version of the commercial in the 1980's.  The perfume commercial was based around the phrase Bringing Home the Bacon.

You can watch it from this link; http://youtu.be/4X4MwbVf5OA

Where does the phrase Bringing Home the Bacon come from?

The first time anyone had actually been quoted as using this phrase was in 1906, when Joe Gans won a boxing match. The September 3rd Reno Evening Gazette reported the words of an announcer at the match who read a telegram from Gans’ mother aloud. She wrote, “Everybody says you ought to win. Peter Jackson will tell me the news and you bring back the bacon.”

It’s unclear whether she made it up on the spot or was repeating an already well-known phrase, but there is no hard evidence of this term’s use before that day.

While the meaning is; supply means of subsistence; earn a living.  It is a part of everyday speech and used without a real thought to the meaning of the expression.

Have a Great Day!