That would have been the case 100 years ago, but hardly now. I don’t think you could claim that, say James Callaghan or Ted Heath were born with a silver spoon. And that’s staying firmly on the right side of politics too.
Fair enough, I may have exaggerated a bit. But going by what I’ve read on the SDMB and elsewhere, it sounds to me like class is still an issue in a lot of professional situations in the UK. Not to say that the US doesn’t have its own problems, but just, you know, different problems.
I personally feel this phrase is generally used by Pointy-Haired Bosses to brush off employees who observe that since Bob, Tim, And Sarah quit last week there are now only two people left on The Big Project and there’s no way it’s going to get done on time. You can’t “Smartwork” your way around the fact there’s a looming deadline and simply not enough resources to complete it by said deadline.
I do consider living in a house that doesn’t include a pissed-off cat fulfilling, though. Even if the work itself isn’t pleasant and satisfying, its consequences are.