silver spoon

When a person is described as “born with a silver spoon in his mouth,” it means that his family is very wealthy, and he is likely to lead a privileged life.

If you picture a baby eating mashed bananas from a tiny spoon, this saying will make sense to you. If the baby’s family is rich, that baby spoon might very well be made of silver — in a way it represents the luxury and ease of the rest of the baby’s life, especially compared to those who were fed from regular plastic spoons. The phrase seems to be American in origin, and it was first used around 1800.