build a better mousetrap

== English == === Etymology === A shortening of build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. Derived from the quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: If a man has good corn or wood, or boards, or pigs, to sell, or can make better chairs or knives, crucibles or church organs, than anybody else, you will find a broad hard-beaten road to his house, though it be in the woods. (1855). === Pronunciation === === Verb === build a better mousetrap (third-person singular simple present builds a better mousetrap, present participle building a better mousetrap, simple past and past participle built a better mousetrap) (idiomatic) To create a new product, method, or idea that is better than an existing version of something already common or widely used. Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door. misattributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson ==== Further reading ==== build a better mousetrap on Wikipedia.Wikipedia