Blow your own trumpet
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
Talk proudly about your own abilities or achievements, often in a way that sounds boastful or self-promoting. This is the usual British form; North American English more often uses 'blow' or 'toot your own horn.'
Origin
The expression treats a boaster as the person who publicly announces and praises their own importance. That self-trumpeter image was established in early modern English: in Much Ado About Nothing, written around 1598-1599, Shakespeare has Benedick call himself 'the trumpet of his own virtues.' Francis Grose's slang dictionary explicitly defined 'to sound one's own trumpet' as 'to praise one's self' by the late 18th century, and the modern blow wording continues the same metaphor. Heralds and ceremonial fanfares probably helped make the image intelligible, but no single heraldic custom or biblical passage has been proved to be its sole source.
Research Sources
Variants
- Blow one's own trumpet
- Sound your own trumpet
- Blow your own horn
- Toot your own horn
Usage Examples
- I do not want to blow my own trumpet, but the migration finished two days ahead of schedule.
- The candidate spent most of the interview blowing his own trumpet instead of answering the questions.
- In the United States she would be more likely to toot her own horn than blow her own trumpet.