Keeping up with the Joneses - Definition and Overview

Keeping up with the Joneses is a popular phrase in the United States referring to the common desire to maintain a favorable image in comparison with one's neighbors or contemporaries. To fail to "keep up with the Joneses" is to demonstrate one's socioeconomic or cultural inferiority.

According to "The Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson, the origin of the phrase is rooted in the 1913 comic strip of the same name created by cartoonist Arthur R. "Pop" Momand. The strip ran in American newspapers for 28 years, and eventually appeared in books, films, and musical comedies. It is possible that the "Joneses" in reference were George Frederic and Lucretia Stevens Rhinelander Jones, parents of writer Edith Newbold Jones Wharton.

See also

• Valley of the Squinting Windows (variation of theme)

External link

• A profile of the original comic strip (http://www.toonopedia.com/joneses.htm)

Example Usage of Keeping