Meaning
- the act of joining others in support of something that is likely to be successful
- aligning yourself with something that is fashionable
- to join a cause or movement as it grows in popularity
Example Sentences
- The whole town was quick to jump on the bandwagon when people began to realize the home team would win the championship.
- I'm not one to jump on the bandwagon just because something looks like it's going to be popular.
- Many people wait until they see which politician is leading in the polls before they jump on the bandwagon.
- The potential of the electric vehicle market has also encouraged traditional carmakers to jump on the bandwagon.
- It may be an excellent time to jump on the bandwagon before the gold gets even more expensive.
- Mercedes jumped on the bandwagon and introduced its own version of the SUV.
Origin
Phineas T. Barnum, a circus owner, and showman was the first to coin the word bandwagon. He first mentioned the term in his autobiography titled The Life of P.T. Barnum as a description of the wagon that carried around the band, 1855:
"At Vicksburg we sold all our land conveyances excepting four horses and the ' band wagon '."
Circuses were extremely popular at the time and always attracted a crowd. Politicians of the day were quick to realize this and began using these bandwagons as part of their electoral campaigns. Although Barnum didn't invent the exact phrase " jump on the bandwagon," which came later, he did have a hand in some other additions to the English language.
In 1899 Theodore Roosevelt - the 26th President of the United States, made a clear reference to this practice in a passage contained in his 'Letters' he wrote:
" When I once became sure of one majority they tumbled over each other to get aboard the bandwagon."
