🗓️ Idiom: Bring Home the Bacon
💬 Meaning
- To earn money to support yourself or your family financially.
- It refers to someone who provides the main source of income in a household.
🧠 Example Sentences
- He works two jobs to bring home the bacon.
- She’s the one who brings home the bacon while her partner takes care of the kids.
- Freelancers often face pressure to consistently bring home the bacon despite irregular work.
🏛️ Origin
The phrase originated in 12th-century England, where a church awarded a side of bacon to married couples who could swear they had not argued for a year and a day. Over time, it came to symbolize success and later evolved into meaning financial provision.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
He worked long hours every day to __________ home the bacon.
Answer
bring
2. Choose the correct meaning of “bring home the bacon”:
A) To cook dinner
B) To earn money to support a family/wife/husband
C) To celebrate a promotion
Answer
B) To earn money to support family/wife/husband
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“She earns enough money to support the entire household.” → Change the sentence using: bring home the bacon
Answer
She brings home the bacon for the entire household.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
👉 HR and Recruitment Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
👉 Student Space
👉 Tutor Toolkit
Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
