Idiom
eat the rich
Meaning
An expression of contempt towards capitalism and the rich, demanding an equitable redistribution of wealth.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The protesters carried signs that said eat the rich.”
“During the protest against rising inequality, the crowd chanted eat the rich to show their anger at the wealthy elite.”
“The radical manifesto concluded with the provocative slogan eat the rich, demanding a complete restructuring of the economic system to benefit the working class.”
Examples
simple
“The protesters carried signs that said eat the rich.”
contextual
“During the protest against rising inequality, the crowd chanted eat the rich to show their anger at the wealthy elite.”
complex
“The radical manifesto concluded with the provocative slogan eat the rich, demanding a complete restructuring of the economic system to benefit the working class.”
Origin
The idiom is attributed to the Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The original quotation, "Quand le peuple n’aura plus rien à manger, il mangera le riche," translates as "When the people shall have no more to eat, they will eat the rich." The sentiment suggests that a total lack of subsistence would eventually necessitate a change in diet involving the upper classes.
The phrase became popular in the 21st-century United States. It was adopted as an anti-capitalist motto within left-wing online communities, where the philosopher's eighteenth-century observation on famine was repurposed for modern economic grievances.
Key words
Related idioms
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