all he touches turns to gold
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
All his ventures succeed; he is invariably fortunate. The allusion is to the legend of Midas (#.v.).
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “all he touches turns to gold” mean?
All his ventures succeed; he is invariably fortunate. The allusion is to the legend of Midas (#.v.).
Is “all he touches turns to gold” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.