A dramatic transformation from poverty to wealth, or from humble beginnings to great success. Describes someone who has achieved prosperity despite starting with very little.
This phrase emerged in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution when social mobility became more possible. It was popularized by Horatio Alger's novels of the 1860s-1890s, which featured young protagonists rising from poverty to middle-class respectability through hard work and moral virtue.
The phrase perfectly captures the American Dream mythology, but 'rags' here originally referred to actual cloth rags that the poor would wear or sell. Interestingly, true rags-to-riches stories are statistically quite rare, making this phrase more aspirational than descriptive of typical social mobility.
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