Jan 8, 2012

The straw that breaks the camel's back

I expect that almost every culture has an expression like this one. A camel is an animal sometimes used to carry people and also big loads of things across the desert. Camels have long, skinny legs but are able to carry a surprising amount of weight. A straw is a piece of dry grass, something which has almost no weight. The idea is that this tiny thing, when placed on top of everything else, will finally break the camel's back. So this expression can describe any situation in which a seemingly small thing causes a big negative reaction, sometimes the end of a relationship. The idea is that you feel overloaded and finally you can't support the load anymore. What usually happens next is an argument, a loss of temper, a separation, etc. Here are a couple of examples:
When his boss criticized his project in the board meeting, it was the straw that broke the camel's back.
If he forgets her birthday again this year, it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
If anyone has a similar expression to share, from any language, it would be great to hear about it! Meanwhile, I hope that you don't encounter any situations like the ones described here!

1 comment:

  1. In Spain people say "the drop that made the water to spill".

    Hugs,


    D.

    ReplyDelete

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