America at home

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English

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Etymology

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Originally, and literally, the state of enjoying the comfortable life associated with emigrating to America while remaining "at home" in Ireland (thus having the best of both worlds). E.g.:

  • Conyngham Crawford Taylor (1887) The Queen's jubilee and Toronto "called back" from 1887 to 1847[1], page 387:As landlords in Canada expect their tenants to pay their rent when due, Mr. Kilbride would not improve his position by emigrating to this country, as, to use a common Irish expression, he appears to have a "very good America at home."
  • 1971, Thomas P. Flanagan, Seanad Éireann debates 19 May 1971 Vol.70 no.4 p.5 c.292:
    She asked me if I was the man who was in charge of the turf production and I said I was. She began to praise me and bless me because she said they had England and America at home. In other words, the earnings from turf production on a family basis were equivalent to what they would have got in England and America if the family had emigrated.

Noun

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America at home (uncountable)

  1. (Ireland, informal, dated) The height of luxury, comfort, or modernity.
    • 1962 October 6, Edna O'Brien, “Come Into The Drawing Room, Doris [later retitled "Irish Revel"]”, in The New Yorker[2], page 52:
      "Tis America at home," Hickey said, putting turf on the smoking fire.
    • 1979, Edna O'Brien, “A Woman by the Seaside”, in A Rose in the Heart (short story collection), →ISBN, page 111::
      "Tis America at home," James said as he nodded to the waitress for more coffees.
    • 1990, John McGahern, Amongst Women, →ISBN, page 62:
      Lemonade was poured into glasses and the meal was toasted. 'This is America at home,' Moran boasted. Bowls of trifle followed. 'We'll burst!' He and everybody were happy.
    • 2000, Christopher Nolan, The Banyan Tree[3], →ISBN, page 177‑8:
      [] the water when it rained filled up the tank and then we could flush away our doosie. Do-be, it was America at home, let me tell you, but then when the fine weather came it was up the ladder and down, bringing pump water up to fill the tank []