# On a Roll
**On a roll** is an informal English idiom meaning a streak of good luck, good progress, or success, as in a team that has won several games in a row or a worker collecting one win after another[1](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/on-a-roll) • [2](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/on_a_roll). The phrase is also the title of several works, most prominently a 2019 song recorded by [Miley Cyrus](https://www.edgepedia.org/miley-cyrus) under her *Black Mirror* character Ashley O, a 2011 middle-grade novel in the [Big Nate](https://www.edgepedia.org/big-nate) series, and a 2011 picture book by Linda Ashman.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Meaning | A streak of success or intense activity; informal register, roughly CEFR level B2[1](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/on-a-roll) • [3](https://missingworkbook.com/idioms/on-a-roll) |
| Age of the phrase | The slangy term dates from the second half of the 1900s, but "roll" alone has carried this sense since the early 1800s[1](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/on-a-roll) |
| Best-known picture book | *Samantha on a Roll* by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Christine Davenier, Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011, 40 pages[4](https://mylibrary.laportelibrary.org/Record/CARL0000138598?page=1&recordIndex=7&referred=resultIndex&searchId=14570954) |
| Memoir | *On a roll: from hot dog buns to high-tech billions* by Howard Jonas, Viking, 1998[5](https://search.worldcat.org/title/On-a-roll-%3A-from-hot-dog-buns-to-high-tech-billions/oclc/38391041) |
## The idiom
Dictionaries define "on a roll" as being on a streak of success or intense activity[1](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/on-a-roll). Collins glosses it as having great success that seems likely to continue, and notes a gambling origin in which a player has a continuing winning streak[6](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/on-a-roll). Cambridge labels it informal and illustrates it with a team that has won nine games in a row[7](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/on-a-roll).
The image behind the phrase is momentum: a rolling object keeps moving under its own impetus, so a run of successes is pictured as motion that is hard to stop[3](https://missingworkbook.com/idioms/on-a-roll). Dictionary.com dates the full slangy phrase to the second half of the 1900s, while the word "roll" by itself had been used for a run of success since the early 1800s[1](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/on-a-roll). The earliest citations collected in [Wiktionary](https://www.edgepedia.org/wiktionary) are from 1983, in the [Matthew Wilder](https://www.edgepedia.org/matthew-wilder) and Greg Prestopino song "Break My Stride" ("You're on a roll and now you pray it lasts"), and from a January 1984 *Time* article describing an economy "entering 1984 on a roll"[2](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/on_a_roll).
Because the phrase is informal, usage guides place it in casual conversation rather than formal writing[3](https://missingworkbook.com/idioms/on-a-roll). It appears freely in journalism about markets, sports, and entertainment; Dictionary.com's usage examples include a healthcare sector "on a roll" in *MarketWatch* and a football club "on a roll" on the BBC[1](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/on-a-roll).
## The Ashley O song
The most prominent musical work titled "On a Roll" is a song by the fictional pop star Ashley O, recorded by the American singer and actress Miley Cyrus for the *Black Mirror* episode "Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too"[25](https://www.gq.com/story/black-mirror-miley-cyrus-songs).
**Credits and sound.** [Charlie Brooker](https://www.edgepedia.org/charlie-brooker), the creator of *Black Mirror*, gained [Trent Reznor](https://www.edgepedia.org/trent-reznor)'s permission to use the song and rewrote the lyrics to be "uber-positive" as a juxtaposition with the episode's dark concepts; Reznor is credited as a songwriter alongside Brooker, and the London production trio The Invisible Men produced the track[8](https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/on-a-roll-by-ashley-o/).
Other songs titled "On a Roll" include a track by the Belgian band [Balthazar](https://www.edgepedia.org/balthazar), released in January 2021 ahead of their album *Sand* (February 26, 2021) on Play It Again Sam[9](https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/Balthazar-Releases-New-Track-On-A-Roll-20210121); "On A Roll" by [Icona Pop](https://www.edgepedia.org/icona-pop) on their 2013 album *This Is... Icona Pop*[10](https://open.spotify.com/track/6RR2UV3yNhhQqfjRiiJf3M); the B-side of Tim Curry's 1981 [A&M Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-and-m-records) single "Working On My Tan"[11](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/tim-curry/discography/united-states/a-m-records/2353/working-on-my-tan-on-a-roll); and a track on homeshake's *Horsie (Deluxe)*, released November 8, 2024[12](https://homeshake.bandcamp.com/track/on-a-roll-2).
## Books
**Big Nate: On a Roll.** In the story, middle-schooler Nate Wright, previously a big deal in his scout troop, is stuck in second place after the "perfect" Artur joins, and the two compete in a troop fundraiser whose grand prize is a customized skateboard[13](https://www.kidsbookseries.com/big-nate/on-a-roll/) • [14](https://books.google.com/books/about/Big_Nate_on_a_Roll.html?id=rX881wVRrvQC). The book carries ISBN 9780061944383 and LCCN 2011016548[15](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL24983319M/Big_Nate_on_a_Roll).
**Samantha on a Roll.** Linda Ashman's rhyming picture book, illustrated by Christine Davenier, was published by Farrar Straus Giroux on October 11, 2011, in a 40-page hardcover[4](https://mylibrary.laportelibrary.org/Record/CARL0000138598?page=1&recordIndex=7&referred=resultIndex&searchId=14570954) • [16](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/linda-ashman/samantha-roll/). Samantha ignores her mother's warning, straps on her new roller skates, and, unable to stop after cresting Hawthorn Hill, careens downhill through a wedding party, a marching band, and an ice cream stand[16](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/linda-ashman/samantha-roll/). Kirkus gave the book a starred review, calling it "a memorable first skate by an irresistible imp," and it was named a New York Times Notable Children's Book for 2011[16](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/linda-ashman/samantha-roll/) • [17](https://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9780374363994). It received a Charlotte Zolotow Award commendation and a CCBC Choices selection in 2012[18](https://library.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=28793). In 2012 the book was challenged in an Oregon public library on the grounds that it encourages children to misbehave, engage in dangerous activities, and not mind their parents; it was retained[19](https://www.aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/Oregon_Library_School_Challenges_1979-July%202015.pdf).
**Other titles.** Howard Jonas, founder of the telecommunications firm IDT, published the memoir *On a roll: from hot dog buns to high-tech billions* with Viking in 1998, recounting a path from a teenage hot dog stand to a company he took public[5](https://search.worldcat.org/title/On-a-roll-%3A-from-hot-dog-buns-to-high-tech-billions/oclc/38391041) • [20](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/howard-jonas/on-a-roll/). Series titles using the phrase include *Lumberjanes: On A Roll*, volume 9 of the Lumberjanes comics series published by Boom Box on July 24, 2018[21](https://burningbooks.com/products/lumberjanes-on-a-roll-lumberjanes-9), and *Unicorn on a Roll* by Dana Simpson, the second Phoebe and Her Unicorn collection, published by Andrews McMeel on May 26, 2015[22](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Unicorn-on-a-Roll/Dana-Simpson/Phoebe-and-Her-Unicorn/9781449470760). The picture book *Steve the Dung Beetle: On a Roll* by Melissa Bailey, published March 15, 2022, plays on the insect's habit of rolling its dung ball home[23](https://www.scbwi.org/books/9780578935508).
## Other media
"On a Roll" is also the title of a 2006 animated comedy short, 3 minutes long, directed and written by [Alex Hirsch](https://www.edgepedia.org/alex-hirsch), in which two brands of [paper towels](https://www.edgepedia.org/paper-towel) argue over who gets to clean up a spilled puddle of juice[24](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483465/).
## References
1. [On a Roll Definition & Meaning, Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/on-a-roll)
2. [on a roll, Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/on_a_roll)
3. [on a roll, The Missing Workbook](https://missingworkbook.com/idioms/on-a-roll)
4. [Samantha on a roll, La Porte County Public Library System](https://mylibrary.laportelibrary.org/Record/CARL0000138598?page=1&recordIndex=7&referred=resultIndex&searchId=14570954)
5. [On a roll: from hot dog buns to high-tech billions, WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/title/On-a-roll-%3A-from-hot-dog-buns-to-high-tech-billions/oclc/38391041)
6. [ON A ROLL definition, Collins English Dictionary](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/on-a-roll)
7. [on a roll, Cambridge English Dictionary](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/on-a-roll)
8. ["On a Roll" by Ashley O, Song Meanings and Facts](https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/on-a-roll-by-ashley-o/)
9. [Balthazar Releases New Track 'On A Roll', BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwmusic/article/Balthazar-Releases-New-Track-On-A-Roll-20210121)
10. [On A Roll, Icona Pop, Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/6RR2UV3yNhhQqfjRiiJf3M)
11. [Working On My Tan/On a Roll, Tim Curry, ONAM Records](https://www.onamrecords.com/artists/tim-curry/discography/united-states/a-m-records/2353/working-on-my-tan-on-a-roll)
12. [On A Roll, homeshake, Bandcamp](https://homeshake.bandcamp.com/track/on-a-roll-2)
13. [Big Nate Novel #3: Big Nate On a Roll, kidsbookseries.com](https://www.kidsbookseries.com/big-nate/on-a-roll/)
14. [Big Nate on a Roll, Google Books](https://books.google.com/books/about/Big_Nate_on_a_Roll.html?id=rX881wVRrvQC)
15. [Big Nate on a Roll, Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL24983319M/Big_Nate_on_a_Roll)
16. [SAMANTHA ON A ROLL, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/linda-ashman/samantha-roll/)
17. [Samantha on a Roll, MIT Press Bookstore](https://mitpressbookstore.mit.edu/book/9780374363994)
18. [Samantha on a Roll, TeachingBooks](https://library.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=28793)
19. [Materials Challenged in Oregon 1979 - July 2015, ACLU of Oregon](https://www.aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/Oregon_Library_School_Challenges_1979-July%202015.pdf)
20. [ON A ROLL, Kirkus Reviews (Howard Jonas)](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/howard-jonas/on-a-roll/)
21. [Lumberjanes: On A Roll (Lumberjanes #9), Burning Books](https://burningbooks.com/products/lumberjanes-on-a-roll-lumberjanes-9)
22. [Unicorn on a Roll, Simon & Schuster](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Unicorn-on-a-Roll/Dana-Simpson/Phoebe-and-Her-Unicorn/9781449470760)
23. [Steve the Dung Beetle: On a Roll, SCBWI](https://www.scbwi.org/books/9780578935508)
24. [On a Roll (Short 2006), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483465/)
25. [Black Mirror’s Biggest Twist Is That Miley Cyrus Is Actually Covering Nine Inch Nails | GQ](https://www.gq.com/story/black-mirror-miley-cyrus-songs)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Compositions and songs › Musical-theater, film, television, and game songs › Television songs and themes*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license