onward and upward
1. Becoming increasingly successful; continuing to advance or make progress. After the immense success of his first book, it was all onward and upward for John's writing career.
2. Improving to a brighter, happier future, especially after some misfortune or unpleasant incident. I know you're really disappointed with your result on the midterm, but hey, it's onward and upward from here!
onwards and upwards
1. Becoming increasingly successful; continuing to advance or make progress. After the immense success of his first book, it was all onwards and upwards for John's writing career from there.
2. Improving to a brighter, happier future, especially after some misfortune or unpleasant incident. I know you're really disappointed with your result on the midterm, but hey, it's onwards and upwards from here!
press onward
To continue or try to do something with determination, especially when facing hardships or setbacks. It was discouraging to learn that our budget had been cut, but we pressed onward in the hopes of recovering our investment costs. We have to press onward. We've come too far to turn back now!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
onward and upward
Striving to advance and improve. This mid-nineteenth-century rallying cry was invoked by, among others, Frances Anne Kemble (1809–93) in her Lines addressed to the Young Gentlemen leaving the Lenox Academy, Massachusetts: “Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin, but onward, upward, till the goal ye win.” Today it is sometimes used ironically, as in the New Yorker magazine’s title for comments on unwittingly amusing news: “Onward and Upward with the Arts.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer