Re: Keeping
up with the Joneses
Posted by bob
on January 17, 2002 In Reply to: Keeping
up with the Joneses posted by Marian on January 17, 2002
:
I understand this phrase to mean keeping up at least the appearance of wealth
or class to the roughly equivalent degree that one's neighbors exhibit same, particularly
in terms of the display of physical possessions. The earlier discussion of Jonesing,
and particularly the noun, Jones, made me wonder if there was a connection, since
both the noun Jones and the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses" seem to hinge
on acquisition. On the other hand, "Jones" is quite a common surname in the U.S.,
and I had previously assumed that "keeping up with the Joneses" was phrased with
"Joneses" in it to impart the ubiquity of the phenomenon. Any ideas on whether
ubiquity or acquisitivity is the guiding principle here?
"Keeping up iwth the
Joneses" has a much longer history than "Jones," meaning habit. The latter originated
in Afro-American slang, made more popular/widespread by the song "I've Got a Basketball
Jones," a few years back. I don't believe there's a connection. (By the way, last
I heard, Johnson was the most common American surname. The single most common
name in the UK is David Jones.)
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