hop on the bandwagon
To join, follow, or support someone or something only after they or it is successful or popular. I can't stand these people who just hop on the bandwagon after a win. Where were they last year when the team was terrible? A: "I thought your mom hated that candidate." B: "Well, he's the president now, so she hopped on the bandwagon." Please, you just hop on the bandwagon whenever the team is in the playoffs. Can you even name five players on the active roster?
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
on the bandwagon, to get/climb/hop
To join the cause, movement, or party. The original bandwagon was a horse-drawn wagon bearing a brass band, used in a circus parade. In the second half of the nineteenth century such wagons began to be used in political campaigns as well, accompanying a candidate on speech-making tours. During William Jennings Bryan’s presidential campaign of 1900 the term began to be extended to mean supporting the movement itself. It also was used in Britain: “The Mirror . . . does not jump on bandwagons . . . it isn’t, never has been, and never will be a tin can tied to a political party’s tail” (Daily Mirror, 1966; cited by William Safire).
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer