Definition
The belief that one deserves special privileges without having to earn them.
Examples
1) The world owes her a living, as she is watching TV the whole day, not
doing anything productive.
2) I'm not willing to work for it. I think the world owes me a living.
Etymology
The term is thought to have originated in the United States. Mark Twain said
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living."
Synonyms
feeling of entitlement, sense of privilege
- englishdaily626.com [edited]
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It was a new China but old ideas died hard. Reality taught Bill early that myths
such as "a man above men" and "one excels in book-learning to become a
mandarin," trite and counter-revolutionary fossils as they seemed, were what
life was really about for those born and bred in Confucian land. The tough
peasants he was sprung from, the hard work in school, the tests he aced, and the
elite college he entered all gave him the illusion of a gift and a mission. In
his mid 20s, he could hardly shoulder a pole or tote a basket but trusted that
the world owed him a good living. He didn't realize what he'd given up when he
went abroad.
