Keeping up with the Joneses

My dad uses this phrase all the time, so when someone asked me what it meant earlier this week it made me smile.

"Keeping up with the Joneses" (Joneses is the plural of Jones) is an idiom referring to people trying to match the lifestyle of their neighbors. If the Joneses buy the newest car, you have to have that car, too. If the Joneses buy Ipads for their entire family, you will go out and buy them too. If the Joneses put gnomes in their garden, there will be gnomes in your garden the next morning.

This is a Chevrolet magazine ad from 1956:You may have heard of the show "Keeping up with the Kardashians," which is a twist on the popular idom.

Keeping up with the Joneses sounds exhausting and expensive! Remember that the people who "keep up with the Joneses" are often those who don't have the money to be doing so.