Why do we call people “born losers?” Where did this idiom come from? Join us as we explore how the rise of capitalism in America impacts our language today. We will learn about the The Market Revolution, Henry David Thoreau, and the history of “born Loser.” We talk to Dr. Scott Sandage, Author of Born Losers: A History of Failure in America, and Dr. Samuel West of the museum of Failure. Thanks for listening!

References

Browne, P. E. (1909). A fool there was. The Hampton Magazine, 22(4), 259.

Crèvecœur, J. H. St. J. (1998). Letters from an American farmer. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4666/pg4666-images.html

EBSCO. (n.d.). Hamilton’s report on public credit. EBSCO Research Starters. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/hamiltons-report-public-credit

Farm Bureau. (n.d.). Fast facts. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.fb.org/newsroom/fast-facts

Family’s ‘winner’ becomes a ‘loser’ and ‘loser’ a ‘winner’. (2002, August 1). The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/world/familys-winner-becomes-a-loser-and-loser-a-winner-20020801-gdfi5p.html

Green, J. (2013, April 26). The Market Revolution: Crash Course US History #12 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNftCCwAol0

Horton, R. R. (2014, November 27). “A fool there was” by Porter Emerson Browne. R.R. Horton’s Blog. https://rrhorton.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-fool-there-was-by-porter-emerson_27.html

Levitt, S. D., & Dubner, S. J. (2009). Freakonomics: A rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything. Pombo Free. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from http://pombo.free.fr/freakonomics.pdf

Lockley, S., & Grivno, K. (Eds.). (2019). The Market Revolution. In The American Yawp (Vol. 1). Stanford University Press. http://www.americanyawp.com/text/08-the-market-revolution/

Martineau, H. (n.d.). Society in America, Vol. 1 (of 3). Project Gutenberg. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/52685/pg52685-images.html

Niles, H. (n.d.). Niles’ Weekly Register. Early US History. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://earlyushistory.net/niles-register/#v1

Pilgrim Institute. (n.d.). Noah Webster: Founding father of American scholarship and education. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://pilgriminstitute.org/blog/noah-webster-founding-father-of-american-scholarship-and-education/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAs%20an%20independent%20nation%2C%20our,Dissertations%20on%20the%20English%20Language

Sandage, S. A. (2006). Born losers: A history of failure in America. Harvard University Press.

U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). 1790-1890: Urban and rural population. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.census.gov/dataviz/visualizations/005/#:~:text=This%20reflected%20a%20shift%20from,rose%20to%2035.1%20by%201890.

University of Illinois. (n.d.). Noah Webster. University of Illinois Blogs. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://blogs.illinois.edu/view/25/5344#:~:text=A%20lawyer%20and%20schoolmaster%20who,speech%20of%20its%20former%20masters.

University of Washington. (2016, May 26). Documents that changed the world: Noah Webster’s dictionary (1828). UW News. https://www.washington.edu/news/2016/05/26/documents-that-changed-the-world-noah-websters-dictionary-1828/#:~:text=“He%20had%20more%20luck%20there,’”

Vance, L. J. (n.d.). The bandbox. Project Gutenberg. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/6305/pg6305-images.html

Webster, N. (1783). A grammatical institute of the English language, Part I: Containing a plain and comprehensive system of English grammar. D. Potter. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from http://www.donpotter.net/pdf/webster-1783.pdf

Webster, N. (1906). Webster’s practical dictionary: A book of reference for the American people (G. V. N. Dearborn, Ed.). New York: Hinds, Noble & Eldredge. Retrieved November 9, 2025, from https://archive.org/details/websterspractica00web/page/232/mode/2up