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!

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