gravy train
the gravy train
A state, position, or job in which one makes an excessive amount of money without expending much or any effort. I'll be on the gravy train once I get paid from the settlement of the lawsuit! My brother ended up on the gravy train when he married his wife, whose family owns one of the largest oil companies in the world.
See also: gravy, train
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
the ˈgravy train
(informal, especially American English) (of a particular job or situation) an easy way of getting a lot of money and other benefits: Financial services produce very high earnings, and a lot of people are trying to get onto the gravy train.See also: gravy, train
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
gravy train
n. a job that brings in a steady supply of easy money or gravy. This kind of job is a real gravy train.
See also: gravy, train
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
gravy train, the
Easy money; the good life, obtained with little effort. This American slang term became current during the financial boom of the 1920s. It originated in railroad slang, where “gravy train” meant a run on which there was good pay and little work. (Gravy itself became slang for easy money, or an illicit profit obtained through graft, in the early 1900s.) “There was a moment . . . when the whole Jocelyn sideshow seemed to be boarding the gravy train . . . on to fatter triumphs” (Mary McCarthy, The Groves of Academe, 1953).
See also: gravy
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- a gravy train
- gravy train, the
- on the gravy train
- the gravy train
- be on the gravy train
- gravy
- gravy train, ride the
- ride the gravy train
- board the gravy train
- train