Chrysti The Wordsmith: Cry All the Way to the Bank

Greetings This is Christie the wordsmith. What does it mean to cry all the way to the bank. This sarcastic American catchphrase comes with a couple of interpretations. Someone who cries all the way to the bank has made a lot of money and is indifferent to criticism of his wealth or makes a substantial income on a substandard performance or product. The phrase was popularized by Liberace the flamboyant entertainer famous for his baroque piano style outrageous feathered costumes pounds of jewelled rings and trademark gilt candelabra in 1956 Liberace played a concert for a sold out house at Madison Square Garden. The audience raved. But the critics spewed vitriol. William Connor of the British tabloid The Daily Mirror called Liberace a deadly winking snuggling chromium plated quivering giggling fruit flavored mincing heap of mother love. Liberace responded with a telegram to the critic that read what you said hurt me very

much. I cried all the way to the bank. As the world's highest paid musician at the time Liberace felt entitled to his crocodile tears some years later he quipped. You know that bank I used to cry all the way to I bought it though Liberace made the expression famous in the middle of the 20th century. Evidence suggests the phrase cry all the way to the bank was already in place by the 1940s. I'm Christie the wordsmith. Good day verb of course Christie the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.