See sell the family silver on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "Referring to the selling of heirlooms. Use in reference to national policy popularized in a paraphrasing of a 1985 speech by former British prime minister Harold Macmillan: “The sale of assets is common with individuals and states when they run into financial difficulties. First, all the Georgian silver goes, and then all that nice furniture that used to be in the saloon. Then the Canalettos go,” in reference the privatization policy of Margaret Thatcher.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "sells the family silver",
"tags": [
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},
{
"form": "selling the family silver",
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{
"form": "sold the family silver",
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"form": "sold the family silver",
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"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "sell<,,sold> the family silver"
},
"expansion": "sell the family silver (third-person singular simple present sells the family silver, present participle selling the family silver, simple past and past participle sold the family silver)",
"name": "en-verb"
},
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"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "48 52",
"word": "sell one's birthright for a mess of pottage"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "71 29",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
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"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "74 26",
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{
"_dis": "87 13",
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1939, Henry Louis Mencken, editor, The American Mercury, volume 48:",
"text": "For two years he fretted in France, selling the family silver to support himself",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1969, Stephen Clissold, Bernardo O'Higgins and the Independence of Chile, page 239:",
"text": "Though he had at last been reinstated in his rank of Captain-General, the Chilean Treasury seemed in no hurry to pay his pension and Dona Rosita was forced to sell the family silver.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1985, Moira Ferguson, First Feminists: British Women Writers, 1578-1799, page 437:",
"text": "There she collapsed when she made a bid to sell the family silver and by the time she advertised for work–ignominy for a landed heiress–she was fully aprised of the difficulties faced by women seeking employment.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To sell one's property (not necessarily heirlooms) in an attempt to avoid or escape financial difficulties."
],
"id": "en-sell_the_family_silver-en-verb-32KpQe0s",
"links": [
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"property",
"property"
],
[
"financial",
"financial"
],
[
"difficulties",
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]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(dated) To sell one's property (not necessarily heirlooms) in an attempt to avoid or escape financial difficulties."
],
"tags": [
"dated",
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Finance",
"orig": "en:Finance",
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"Sciences",
"Fundamental"
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"source": "w"
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{
"kind": "topical",
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"name": "Politics",
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"Fundamental"
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"source": "w"
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],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1988, Lee E. Preston, editor, International and Comparative Studies, volume 1, →ISBN, page 161:",
"text": "And if it is close, when is it sensible to sell the family silver?",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2000, Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa, editor, The African Economy: Policy, Institutions and the Future, →ISBN, page 192:",
"text": "There have been resignations of government officials over anomalies in the privatisation of the copper industry, while the charge that the government is selling the family silver is still voiced frequently.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2003, James D. Bamford, Benjamin Gomes-Casseres, Michael S. Robinson, Mastering Alliance Strategy, →ISBN, page 60:",
"text": "[...] yet it had only a 50 percent stake because its partner, while recognizing that it needed and alliance in order to introduce new products, was unwilling to sell the family silver by giving up 51 percent.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To sell a valuable or critical asset, especially for immediate or short-term gain."
],
"id": "en-sell_the_family_silver-en-verb-dPGtrQ2X",
"links": [
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],
"raw_glosses": [
"(politics, finance) To sell a valuable or critical asset, especially for immediate or short-term gain."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"topics": [
"business",
"finance",
"government",
"politics"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Harold Macmillan",
"Margaret Thatcher"
],
"word": "sell the family silver"
}
{
"categories": [
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"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English verbs",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries"
],
"etymology_text": "Referring to the selling of heirlooms. Use in reference to national policy popularized in a paraphrasing of a 1985 speech by former British prime minister Harold Macmillan: “The sale of assets is common with individuals and states when they run into financial difficulties. First, all the Georgian silver goes, and then all that nice furniture that used to be in the saloon. Then the Canalettos go,” in reference the privatization policy of Margaret Thatcher.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "sells the family silver",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "selling the family silver",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "sold the family silver",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "sold the family silver",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
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"args": {
"1": "sell<,,sold> the family silver"
},
"expansion": "sell the family silver (third-person singular simple present sells the family silver, present participle selling the family silver, simple past and past participle sold the family silver)",
"name": "en-verb"
},
{
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},
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"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "sell one's birthright for a mess of pottage"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1939, Henry Louis Mencken, editor, The American Mercury, volume 48:",
"text": "For two years he fretted in France, selling the family silver to support himself",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1969, Stephen Clissold, Bernardo O'Higgins and the Independence of Chile, page 239:",
"text": "Though he had at last been reinstated in his rank of Captain-General, the Chilean Treasury seemed in no hurry to pay his pension and Dona Rosita was forced to sell the family silver.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1985, Moira Ferguson, First Feminists: British Women Writers, 1578-1799, page 437:",
"text": "There she collapsed when she made a bid to sell the family silver and by the time she advertised for work–ignominy for a landed heiress–she was fully aprised of the difficulties faced by women seeking employment.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To sell one's property (not necessarily heirlooms) in an attempt to avoid or escape financial difficulties."
],
"links": [
[
"property",
"property"
],
[
"financial",
"financial"
],
[
"difficulties",
"difficulties"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(dated) To sell one's property (not necessarily heirlooms) in an attempt to avoid or escape financial difficulties."
],
"tags": [
"dated",
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"en:Finance",
"en:Politics"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1988, Lee E. Preston, editor, International and Comparative Studies, volume 1, →ISBN, page 161:",
"text": "And if it is close, when is it sensible to sell the family silver?",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2000, Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa, editor, The African Economy: Policy, Institutions and the Future, →ISBN, page 192:",
"text": "There have been resignations of government officials over anomalies in the privatisation of the copper industry, while the charge that the government is selling the family silver is still voiced frequently.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2003, James D. Bamford, Benjamin Gomes-Casseres, Michael S. Robinson, Mastering Alliance Strategy, →ISBN, page 60:",
"text": "[...] yet it had only a 50 percent stake because its partner, while recognizing that it needed and alliance in order to introduce new products, was unwilling to sell the family silver by giving up 51 percent.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To sell a valuable or critical asset, especially for immediate or short-term gain."
],
"links": [
[
"politics",
"politics"
],
[
"finance",
"finance#Noun"
],
[
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[
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[
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[
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],
[
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]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(politics, finance) To sell a valuable or critical asset, especially for immediate or short-term gain."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"topics": [
"business",
"finance",
"government",
"politics"
]
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Harold Macmillan",
"Margaret Thatcher"
],
"word": "sell the family silver"
}
Download raw JSONL data for sell the family silver meaning in All languages combined (4.3kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-02-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-02-02 using wiktextract (ca09fec and c40eb85). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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