What Is Meant By The Proverb A Diamond In The Rough?
The phrase is “A diamond in the ROUGH.” It comes from the fact that when diamonds are newly mined – that is, before they have been cut and polished – they don’t shine, in fact they look quite a lot like pebbles and are easily overlooked in their “rough” state. From this comes the idea that a person can also be like a diamond in the rough or, in the more common idiom, “a rough diamond.” This means a person who has rough, uncultivated or even impolite manners, but at heart is a very good person with excellent qualities. So if you described someone as a rough diamond, you would basically be paying them a compliment as you mean that they are a good person underneath – but you are also saying that their outward style and behaviour isn’t very attractive – and that isn’t such a compliment!
