The Last Straw

Posted by TheFallen on May 14, 2002

In Reply to: The Last Straw posted by Breeana on May 14, 2002

: I am looking for any kind of information on the origin of the phrase "the last straw", as in "this is the last straw". Any ideas? Thanks.

The last straw is used to refer to a thing or action, however little it may be when considered just on its own and not as a culmination of a process, that finally takes something over the limit into the realms of the intolerable. It's adapted and abbreviated from the age-old proverb "It's the last straw that breaks the camel's back"