eat high off the hog
(redirected from he has eaten high off the hog)eat high off the hog
To prosper or otherwise live very well. It refers to the rich being able to afford the choicest cut of meat, which, from a pig, is higher up on the animal. They've been eating high off the hog ever since David won the lottery. It must be a shock for them having to count their pennies like this—they're used to eating high off the hog, after all.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
high off the hog, eat
Also, live high on the hog. Prosper, live luxuriously, as in When Aunt Ida dies and they inherit her estate, they'll be eating high off the hog, or Since their loan was approved, they've been living high on the hog. It alludes to the choicest cuts of meat, which are found on a pig's upper flanks. [Late 1800s]
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.
high off the hog, to eat/live
To live well; to prosper. This term comes from the practice of the choicest cuts for ham and bacon being taken from high up on the pig’s side. It originated in the American South in the nineteenth century and became extremely common in the mid-twentieth century. It is sometimes put as eating high on the hog.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer