Short for every cloud has a silver lining.
Meaning of Idiom ‘Silver Lining’
A silver lining is a positive outcome or aspect of a bad situation; an unseen benefit or element of hopefulness that comes from something bad that happens to you. 1Brenner, Gail Abel. Webster’s New World American Idioms Handbook. Wiley, 2003.,2Spears, Richard A. McGraw-Hill’s American Idioms Dictionary. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.,3Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010., 4Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
The full proverbial idiom every cloud has a silver lining has the same meaning, but it is most often shortened to silver lining. Used with have a ~ or there is a ~, as in the examples below.
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Sentence Examples
“If there’s a silver lining to being laid off it’s that I can concentrate on my writing.”
“I think the current assault on our democracy has a silver lining. We will no longer take our freedoms for granted.”
“I know you are upset over your break up but every cloud has a silver lining. You’ve been wanting to travel for years.”
“With Daddy in prison, his pregnant wife was all alone. And could not cope. But all clouds have a silver lining. And out of her death, Mindy was born” — Kick-Ass (2010)
“However dark the cloud, there’s always a silver lining. It might be hard to see, but what we should learn from this is to be true to ourselves and to resist peer pressure.” — Cruel Intentions (1999)
“There is a silver lining here, by the way. I’m now the sole inheritor of my family’s estate. We’re talking millions, babe. You. Me.” — You’re Next (2013)
Origin
Originally a proverb, every cloud has a silver lining was derived from John Milton’s Comus (1634):
“A sable cloud turns forth its silver lining on the night.” 5Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
In its present form, the idiom is seen in print as early as the 1850s.
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