"make it big” vs “hit it big”

English as a Second Language
1

Are there any differences in the meaning of or when we use the idioms ‘make it big’ and ‘hit it big’? The definitions in the Cambridge Dictionary are:

  • make it big
    to become famous or successful
  • hit it big
    to become very successful
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2

I think they both are very similar in meaning. However, ‘to hit it big’ might suggest that luck had a greater impact on your success than when you ‘make it big’. We say ‘to hit the lorry’ or ‘hit the jackpot’ when we get very lucky while we refer to a ‘self-made man’ when talking about a person who has supposedly ‘worked hard’ to become rich.

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