An albatross round his neck

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An albatross around one's neck

Meaning

A burden which some unfortunate person has to carry.

Origin

A reference to the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in which the character who shot an albatross is obliged to carry the bird hung around his neck.

God save thee, ancient Mariner
From the fiends, that plague thee thus
Why look'st thou so ? - With my cross-bow
I shot the ALBATROSS.
...
Ah. well a-day. what evil looks
Had I from old and young
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.

Other phrases associated with Coleridge:

Achilles' heel
Pipe dream
Suspension of disbelief