Monday, June 21, 2010

The last straw

That's the last straw!

I'm never going to see him again!

Straw is dried grass in strips. The full idiom is the last straw that broke the camel's back. Rather a cruel idea but the concept is that the weight builds up until one small piece does the damage - the last straw!

So when you've been tolerating something for a while but you reach the point where you can't any longer, that's the last straw.

I googled camels and came up with this. Camel is also a famous brand of cigarette, you know, the brand smoked by doctors?