earn stripes

earn your stripes

to do something to show that you deserve a particular rank or position She earned her stripes as a local reporter before becoming a foreign correspondent.

Etymology: based on the idea that soldiers wear stripes (strips of material sewn onto a uniform that show rank)

earn your stripes

to do something to show that you deserve a particular rank or position and have the skills needed for it She earned her stripes as a junior reporter before becoming education correspondent.

See earn brownie points, earn spurs

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Claire	KLER	French, English
Euripides	yoo-RIP-i-deez (English)	Ancient Greek
Iria	-	Portuguese, Galician
Vargas	['wa:gəs]
Shanika	shə-NEE-kə	African American (Modern)
Jamila	-	Arabic