What Does It Mean to ‘Hit Pay Dirt'?

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.

On this program we explore words and expressions in the English language. We give examples and notes on usage.

Many valuable materials are buried deep inside the ground, such as gold, oil and diamonds. But finding these riches and bringing them to the surface takes much time and effort.

In the past, the term pay dirt was used to describe something found in the dirt that could bring you money. Gold is a common example of pay dirt. In fact, word experts say the term dates back to when North America's famous gold rush was happening.

By the mid-1800s, thousands of people had come to parts of the United States and Canada to search for gold. The work was hard and dangerous. The weather and terrain presented many difficulties.

Here is an example of how to use pay dirt from Cambridge's online dictionary:

Gold rushes continued into the 19th century as lucky prospectors struck pay dirt.

However, pay dirt does not have to be a valuable material found in the ground. These days, it can also describe something that produces money or profit. Or it can even be the money or profit itself.

Here are some additional examples:

Email addresses are the new pay dirt in social media marketing. You can reach a possible buyer in their inbox.

The musical group hit pay dirt with their song after it went viral on TikTok.

And that gives us the expression to hit pay dirt.

To hit pay dirt means to do or find something that results in money or success. And like digging gold, it usually doesn't come easily. It requires work. When you hit pay dirt, you work hard to make money or profit from an idea or activity.

We often use the verb “hit” when using the term pay dirt. But sometimes we also say “strike” pay dirt. This is similar to the expression to strike it rich. Many people have dreams of striking it rich one day.

In her book Gold Rush, author and illustrator Flora Delargy describes the process of hitting pay dirt. She writes that in order to get large amounts of pay dirt out of the ground, “miners would have to break through layers of permafrost to reach the gravel bedrock beneath.”

This description demonstrates the difficulties faced by miners seeking to strike pay dirt.

And that's the end of this Words and Their Stories. Until next time, I'm Anna Matteo.

Anna Matteo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.

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terrain -n. the surface features of an area of land

prospector -n. someone who explores for mineral deposits

miner -n. one who digs or forms a pit or tunnel from which minerals (as coal, gold, or diamonds) are taken

permafrost -n. a permanently frozen layer at variable depth below the surface in frigid regions of a planet (such as earth)

gravel -n. loose rounded fragments of rock

bedrock -n. the solid rock lying under surface materials (as soil) that are not in layers