• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / What Does the Expression “Keeping Up With the Joneses” Mean and Where Did the Phrase Come From?

What Does the Expression “Keeping Up With the Joneses” Mean and Where Did the Phrase Come From?

April 21, 2020 by Karen Hill

Keeping up with the Joneses has come to mean trying to keep up with your neighbors, in terms of material possessions, at any cost.

The expression comes from the title of a comic strip that ran in newspapers between 1913 and 1931 and chronicled the experiences of a newly married man in Cedarhurst, New York.

Originally titled “Keeping Up With the Smiths,” the cartoon was changed to the “Keeping Up With the Joneses” because it sounded better.

Sometimes the rat race is also referred to as “keeping up with the Joneses”.

Related Facts

  • Where does the expression “keeping up with the Joneses” come from and What does it mean?
  • What types of Viruses and Bacteria do Rats and Mice carry?
  • Top 25 Inventions That Changed Our Lives Forever
  • Where Did Rats Come From?
  • Which Explorers First Explored the Continents of the World?
  • Top 25 Inventions That Changed the World

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « Where Did Coffee Come From and Who Were the First People to Discover and Drink Coffee?
Next Post: Where Did the Greeting “Hello” Come From When We Answer the Telephone and What Does the Word Mean? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy