silver lining
The potential for something positive or beneficial to result from a negative situation. Often used in the phrase "every cloud has a silver lining." (A silver lining on a cloud is an indication that the sun is behind it.) There could be a silver lining to getting laid off—you might find a job you actually like!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
silver lining
An element of hope or a redeeming quality in an otherwise bad situation, as in The rally had a disappointing turnout, but the silver lining was that those who came pledged a great deal of money . This metaphoric term is a shortening of Every cloud has a silver lining, in turn derived from John Milton's Comus (1634): "A sable cloud turns forth its silver lining on the night."
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
a silver lining
COMMON A silver lining is one good aspect of a situation that is otherwise generally bad. The fall in inflation is the silver lining in this prolonged recession. I must say, I had trouble finding a silver lining in the report. Note: When you are using a silver lining in this way, you often refer to the bad aspect of the situation as the cloud. Even Clarke, usually a man to find a silver lining in the blackest cloud, admitted that the government was in trouble. Note: These expressions come from the proverb every cloud has a silver lining, which is used to say that every bad situation has one good aspect to it. As they say, every cloud has a silver lining. We have learned a lot from the experience. Note: Less often, people say every silver lining has a cloud, meaning that every good situation has a bad aspect. We got on brilliantly; he was clever, kind, funny — and leaving for New York on Tuesday. Every silver lining has a cloud, it seems.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
a silver lining
a positive or more hopeful aspect to a bad situation, even though this may not be immediately apparent. The full form of the phrase is the proverb every cloud has a silver lining .
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
silver
n. money. I have some silver stashed at home if you need it.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
every cloud has a silver lining
The worst situation has some element of hope or some redeeming quality. John Milton appears to have been the originator of this metaphor, in Comus (1634): “A sable cloud turns forth its silver lining on the night.” It was adopted by numerous later writers and so was already a cliché by the time it appeared in the popular World War I song, “Keep the Home Fires Burning” (Ivor Novello and Lena Guilhert, 1915): “There’s a silver lining through the dark clouds shining.” Noël Coward played on it in a song of the 1930s: “Every silver lining has its cloud.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer