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Her final remark was the straw

Posted by ESC on October 14, 2006

In Reply to: Her final remark was the straw posted by Victoria S Dennis on October 14, 2006

: : : Her final remark was the straw ^ and I decided to clear out right away!

: : : Could anyone explain to me what this means. I really haven't got a clue.

: : More accurately it should be 'Her remark was the final straw'. This relates to the Biblical story of a camel being so heavily loaded that, when one more straw was added to its load the camel's back was broken.
: : In your example her final remark was sufficient to make the recipient of her remarks up and leave.

: Are you sure that's story's biblical? If so, which book of the Bible?

STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMEL'S BACK - "In Charles Dickens' 'Dombey and Son' (Chapter 2), you will find 'As the last straw breaks the laden camel's back,' meaning that there is a limit to everyone's endurance, or everyone has his breaking point. Dickens was writing in the nineteenth century and he may have received his inspiration from an earlier proverb, recorded by Thomas Fuller in his 'Gnomologia' as 'Tis the last feather that breaks the horse's back.' (A gnomologia' is a compilation of sayings.)" From Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988).

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