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The meaning and origin of the expression: Through thick and thin

Through thick and thin

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Through thick and thin'?

Through all forms of obstacle that are put in one's way.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Through thick and thin'?

'Through thick and thin' is one of the English language's older expressions and one that has maintained its figurative meaning over many centuries. It is venerable enough to date from the times when England was still a predominantly wooded country, with few roads and where animals grazed on what was known as wood pasture, that is, mixed woodland and grass.

Through thick and thinThe phrase originated as 'through thicket and thin wood', which was a straightforward literal description of any determined progress through the 'thick' English countryside.

The earliest citation I can find that uses our contemporary wording is in Richard Baxter's religious text A Saint Or a Brute: The Certain Necessity and Excellency of Holiness, 1662:

"Men do fancy a necessity [of holiness] where there is none, yet that will carry them through thick and thin."

The phrase had been in use in Old and Middle English, in the literal 'thicket or thin wood' sense, for some centuries before that. The earliest known usage is in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Reeve's Tale:

And whan the hors was laus, he gynneth gon
Toward the fen, ther wilde mares renne,
And forth with "wehee," thurgh thikke and thurgh thenne.

[And when the horse was loose, he begins to go
Toward the fen, where wild mares run
And forth with "wehee," through thick and through thin
]

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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