gold in them thar hills

noun

An opportunity for something to be profitable or beneficial.

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Meanings

noungold in them thar hills (uncountable)
  1. idiomaticuncountableAn opportunity for something to be profitable or beneficial.

    I think there's gold in them thar hills if we get the chance.

    2018 September 28, Ed Gross, “Gal Gadot To Star In A Remake Of Agatha Christie's Murder Mystery 'Death On The Nile'”, in Closer Weekly, archived from the original on 08 Oct 2018
    1 more example

    There really is gold in them thar hills. During the 2000 election cycle, zip-code areas on average yielded slightly more than $35,000 in political contributions, while residents of Beverly Hills, 90210, ponied up slightly more than $6.2 million.

    2004 September, Eric Alterman, “The Hollywood Campaign”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 08 Oct 2018
  2. uncountableUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see gold, in, them thar, hills.

Origin

Originally used in the phrase there’s gold in them thar hills, possibly a misquote of the phrase there’s millions in it (viz. the North Georgia mountains) uttered in Mark Twain's novel The American Claimant (1892) by Colonel Mulberry Sellers, a character thought to be based on Dahlonega Mint assayer M. F. Stephenson.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

gold in them thar hills. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gold%20in%20them%20thar%20hills

MLA

“gold in them thar hills.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gold%20in%20them%20thar%20hills. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gold in them thar hills,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gold%20in%20them%20thar%20hills.

Source: gold in them thar hills on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.