Trophy wife
I have two phrases I'm trying to figure out the origin of....
The first is "I'll fix your little red wagon!" Anyone have ideas on where this originated?
The second is "trophy wife"......just wondering where/when this one started.
trophy wife
noun
A derogatory expression for a wife regarded as a status symbol for her
husband.
_Tropht wife_ as a dimissive term for the young and attractive wife
of an older man is recorded from the late eighties. The _trophy wife_ is seen
essentialy as a BABE or BIMBO who has married a successful older man, often as
his secopnd wife; through the marriage she gains access to his wealth, and he
gains the status of a man whose power, and by implication sexual prowess, are
displayed by his acquisition of a young and attractive woman.
These trophy
wives make the fifty- and sixty-year-old CEOs feel they can compete sexually with
younger men, the kind of ego boost that doesn't hurt when going up against Young
Turks at the office. --Oliver Goldsmith _The First Wives' Club_ , p. 126
From _The Oxford Dictionary of New Words_
----------
There are
similar phrases like "trophy child" and "trophy tree."
The fact is, these so-called
"jump start" programs are a huge waste of money and time. They appeal to parents
who are desperate for what I call "trophy children" -- children they can show
off, brag about, and (it should go without saying) live through.
--John Rosemond,
"'Jump start' programs a waste of time and money," _The Charlotte Observer_, Oct.
30, 2002
When the house is a multimillion-dollar mansion, an instant tree isn't
enough. Only a "trophy tree" ¡ª a giant specimen weighing up to 35,000 pounds
¡ª¡¡will do. "If they put up a new, 40- to 50,000-square-foot mansion, they want
it to blend in," said Chet Halka Jr., whose Halka Nurseries in Millstone Township,
N.J., charges up to $60,000 for a single mature tree: $20,000 for the tree and
$40,000 to plant it. His customers have included singer Mariah Carey, boxer Mike
Tyson, actor Eddie Murphy and Rolling Stone Keith Richards.
¡ªKim Palmer, "Instant
trees," _Star Tribune_, Nov. 19, 1999