Silver lining (idiom)

For other uses, see Silver lining (disambiguation).

A silver lining is a metaphor for optimism in vernacular English, which means a negative occurrence may have a positive aspect to it.^[2]

A 1920 cartoon depicting George Lansbury.
Captions:
Under a cloud (with a golden lining).
Comrade Lansbury. "Thanks to my faithful brolski not a drop has touched me."
[Loud crows from "Daily Herald" bird.]
Possibly reflecting an allegation of Soviet funding for the Independent Labour Party. Lansbury founded the Daily Herald.^[1]

A cloud with a silver lining

Origin

John Milton coined the phrase 'silver lining' in his poem Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634:

I see ye visibly, and now believe
That he, the Supreme Good, to whom all things ill
Are but as slavish officers of vengeance,
Would send a glistering guardian, if need were
To keep my life and honor unassailed.
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.^[3][4]

It is a metaphor referring to the silvery, shining edges of a cloud backlit by the Sun or the Moon.

See also

• Idiom
• Felix culpa
• Silver Lining (disambiguation)
• Is the glass half empty or half full?