APAD: The last straw (that broke the camel's back)

7
7grizzly
楼主 (文学城)

Meaning:

   The final additional small burden that makes the entirety of one's

   difficulties unbearable.

 

Background:

   The full version of this metaphorical phrase is `the last straw which breaks

   the camel's back', which has an Old Testament sound about it. Searches there

   produce many references to straw and camels amongst the smiting and

   begetting, but no `last straw'.

 

   The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations lists it as a `mid 17th century proverb',

   but offers no supporting evidence for that view. The earliest citation that I

   can find is from The Edinburgh Advertiser, May 1816:

 

     "MR. BROUGHAM remarked, that if it [a tax on soap] were only 3d. a head, or

     4d. and 5d. upon the lower orders, yet straw upon straw was laid till the

     last straw broke the camel's back."

 

   Some authorities suggest that the phrase is a variant on an olde proverb `it

   is the last feather that breaks the horse's back'. That may be so. The

   earliest I can find for that is after 1816 though and, of course, much later

   than mid 17th century. That's also from The Edinburgh Advertiser, in November

   1829:

 

     "It may be very well for Mr. O'Connell, in his own exultation of heart, to

     ascribe the success of the Catholic Relief Bill to his `agitation;' but the

     fact is, that `agitation' was only the cause of Emancipation in the same

     sense in which it is true that the last feather breaks the horse's back."

 

   Last but not least there is, or rather was in 1843, a merger of the two

   phrases. This appeared in The Southport American in October 1843:

 

     "And finally, the `feather which breaks the camel's back' having been added

     to Sir Walter's burthen, he was struck down by paralysis, and after

     lingering a few months, was gathered to his fathers."

 

- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]

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The last straw takes the rap or credit when all the earlier ones went under the

radar. Doesn't each play an equal if not bigger part toward the final flop or

triumph and therefore should be treated with the same seriousness? To avoid

something bad, for example, we'd say mind the trickle to ward off the mickle or

防微杜渐.

 

It ain't easy, if anything, to be alert all the time. For instance, many a

middle-aged man struggling to lose weight or, even harder, trying to stay fit,

can attest to the discipline it demands. For me, the strong morning resolve

dwindles as the day proceeds and every afternoon is a test of will. I'm writing

these words after gaining 1.2lbs from carb-binging at my boy's middle-school

reunion party last evening. Okay, let's start over today.

最西边的岛上
Felt like @ the penultimate straw ;-)) thx so much 7G 4
最西边的岛上
another great APAD!
7
7grizzly
Thanks for reading. Get well soon.
最西边的岛上
Thx (was betterInMorning,but 7k steps2day putMeBack2Square1)
7
7grizzly
The bugs seem getting tougher these days :-(
暖冬cool夏
mind the trickle to ward off the mickle -rhyming, like it!
7
7grizzly
Thank you, my friend.
永远老李
Truck tipping over the edge
最西边的岛上
A good funny one (luckily it’s only a show & no 1 died:-)
移花接木
I once made a bold financial move, felt the last crashing

straw could be on me every next day.

7
7grizzly
Haha. Saw sth similar in "The Italian Job."
7
7grizzly
Well. You've survived. I couldn't live like that.