silver lining

English edit

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Silver lining (idiom)

Etymology edit

Originating in John Milton's poem “Comus”;^[1] see 1634 quotation. The proverb every cloud has a silver lining is an allusion to the relevant passage.

Noun edit

silver lining (plural silver linings)

(figurative) A good aspect of a mostly bad event.
- 1634, John Milton, Comus:
  Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud / Turn forth her silver lining on the night? / I did not err: there does a sable cloud / Turn forth her silver lining on the night, / And casts a gleam over this tufted grove.

Synonyms edit

(good aspect): bright side

Antonyms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

a good aspect of a mostly bad event

Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Cornish: amal arghans m
Czech: světlá stránka f, paprsek naděje m, světlo na konci tunelu (cs) n
Finnish: hopeareunus
Galician: lado bo m
German: Silberstreif (de) m, Silberstreifen (de) m, Lichtblick (de) m, gute Seite f
Hungarian: jó oldala (literally “its good side”)
Italian: risvolto positivo m
Polish: światełko w tunelu n
Portuguese: lado bom
Romanian: no equivalent term in Romanian, but see parte bună, aspect pozitiv
Russian: луч наде́жды m (luč nadéždy), хорошая новость (xorošaja novostʹ)
Spanish: lado positivo m
Swedish: ljuspunkt c
Thai: ฟ้าหลังฝน (fáa lăng fŏn)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Korean: ^{(please verify)} 새옹지마(塞翁之馬) (ko) (sae'ongjima)

References edit

^ “every cloud has a silver lining” in Stuart Berg Flexner and Doris Flexner, Wise Words and Wives' Tales: The Origins, Meanings, and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings, Olde and New, Avon Books (1993), →ISBN, page 52. Quoted in “Re: Every cloud has a silver lining”, phrases.org.uk.

[1] “every cloud has a silver lining” in Stuart Berg Flexner and Doris Flexner, Wise Words and Wives' Tales: The Origins, Meanings, and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings, Olde and New, Avon Books (1993), →ISBN, page 52. Quoted in “Re: Every cloud has a silver lining”, phrases.org.uk.

[1]