[Ads-l] "strike it rich" (1851-52)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The idiom "make it rich" has a parallel structure and a similar
meaning. This idiom does not seem to be listed in the OED. It is
listed in "Webster's New World: American Idioms Handbook" (2020):

[Begin excerpt]
Money Idioms with Have and Make
...
The idiom to make it rich means to become rich (legally or illegally)
through a business endeavor. For example
She has made it rich as a fashion designer.
He made it rich selling on the black market.
[End excerpt]

I cannot tell when the idiom "make it rich" emerged because there are
too many non-idiomatic matches for the phrase and variants, e.g.,
"made it rich", "making it rich". It is possible that the idiom
"strike it rich" occurred before "make it rich".

Garson

On Thu, Sep 18, 2025 at 7:21 PM Ben Zimmer
<00001aae0710f4b7-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> The OED2 entry for "strike" has "strike it rich" from 1854 (with plain
> "strike it" from 1852). Here it is from 1851-52, in the context of the
> California Gold Rush as with the OED cites.
>
> ---
> Pittston (Penn.) Gazette, Feb. 27, 1852, p. 2, col. 3
> "Letter from California," by F.L.B.
> When they "strike it rich" they make their fortune at once, taking up $500
> to the pail full of dirt.
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/pittston-gazette-strike-it-rich/181327633/
> ---
>
> The letter is dated Nov. 2, 1851 ("at the cabin in Buckeye, Mokelumne
> Hill"), and appears to quote a journal entry from Sept. 23.
>
> It's not clear how the idiomatic phrasing of "strike it rich" emerged, but
> I noticed a couple of examples of "strike something rich," meaning "strike
> a rich vein or lead," in other Gold Rush correspondence from 1851.
>
> ---
> Pittsburgh (Penn.) Post, May 13, 1851, p. 2, col. 3
> "From California," by J.B.F. (dated Mar. 25, 1851)
> Any hard laboring man can go into the mines, and if not overtaken by
> sickness and works steady, satisfied with what he gets, can make on an
> average three or four dollars per day, with the chance of striking
> something rich.
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-post-striking-something-r/181327160/
> ---
> Hannibal (Mo.) Journal, Sept. 4, 1851, p. 2, col. 5
> "Letter from California," by C.A. Leaman (dated July 8, 1851)
> It is true, occasionly, a lucky one happens to strike something rich, and
> makes his pile as we say in a short time.
> https://www.newspapers.com/article/hannibal-journal-strike-something-rich/181327280/
> ---
>
> So I wonder if "strike it rich" originated as a kind of idiom blend,
> combining "strike it" and "strike something rich."
>
> --bgz
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org