Why " the world will beat a path to your door"? All people want to buy it?

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NewHopeR

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[h=1]New Cancer Drug Is Ten Times More Potent[/h]ScienceDaily (Aug. 29, 2012) — Legend has it that Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." University of Missouri researchers are doing just that, but instead of building mousetraps, the scientists are targeting cancer drugs. In a new study, MU medicinal chemists have taken an existing drug that is being developed for use in fighting certain types of cancer, added a special structure to it, and created a more potent, efficient weapon against cancer.



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New cancer drug is ten times more potent
 

Cory Sampson

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Re: Why " the world will beat a path to your door"? All people want to buy it?

To understand the aphorism, one must know the idiomatic phrase "to beat a path".

When many people walk on the same path (through a patch of grass, for example), eventually the grass gets worn down. After time, even the soil underfoot becomes hard and smooth. When this happens, we say that the path has become "beaten".

(Note that the phrase "off the beaten path" uses the same basic idea.)

So in the aphorism "Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door", the literal meaning is that if you build a mousetrap that is far better than any that have been previously invented, the people of the world will come to your door in such great numbers and frequency that the path to your door will become beaten.

Because it is an aphorism, it does, of course, have a figurative meaning. The idea expressed here is that a useful innovation will draw many customers. Your reading is correct.
 
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