“The best of both worlds” refers to a situation or object that combines the advantages of two opposing things without the negative aspects. It is commonly used in marketing and advertising to sell products or services. The phrase has been in use since the late 1800s and has become a part of English idioms. It is often used to describe situations that are thought to be mutually exclusive.
The phrase “the best of both worlds” refers to an object or situation that offers the advantages of two disparate or competing objects or situations, often without presenting the undesirable aspects of either. This can include physical items such as products, shops or accommodations, or intangible situations such as services, agreements or relationships. The phrase generally implies that the benefits in question do not normally appear in combination with each other.
The concept behind the phrase is often used in selling and marketing a product or service. For example, a hotel might advertise that it offers the services of a boutique hotel at the price of a chain hotel. The service and experience aspects are the most attractive advantage of boutique hotels, and price is one of the main attractions of a hotel chain, so this offers the prospective buyer an option that includes the best of both worlds.
Estate agents and tourism boards also often pitch their positions as the best of both worlds, whether they use the actual phrase or just demonstrate the concept. For example, a planned community could be demonstrated to offer proximity to shops and restaurants typically found in a large city, while offering the green spaces and tranquility often found in small towns. This takes the most valued aspects of each position type and combines them into a third option.
For the phrase to be most effective, it must be used to describe benefits that are thought to be mutually exclusive, or at least rarely combined. For example, large cities may offer proximity to businesses, but are often associated with traffic and noise. Small towns can be quiet, but they can be in an awkward spot when it comes to shopping. An option that provides the benefits of both while eliminating the less desirable aspects of each would be considered the best of both worlds.
While the origins of the term are unconfirmed, the phrase has been a part of English idioms since at least the late 1800s. It is thought to have evolved from the saying “the best of all possible worlds”, used in Voltaire’s novella Candide, published in 1759 This phrase was repeated often in the literature for the following decades. The relatively modern phrase “the best of both worlds” compares only two situations at odds with the broader comparison implied by Voltaire and later authors.
Eventually, the phrase came into common use in its own right, both in everyday conversation and in pop culture. Now he appears frequently in print, on television and in movies. The phrase has been the title of songs, books, television episodes, and magazine articles.
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