The camel was already miserable way before that last straw. - eviltoast
  • dustyData@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    It’s fascinating to read it so aptly described. I thought it was obvious what the saying meant. That’s why it is usually said to express exasperation. When someone has already endured a lot of abuse, it takes only but a minor inconvenience or minimal annoyance to finally drive them beyond the treshold of tolerance.

    That’s the image, even such an insignificant weight as that of a straw is capable of breaking someone if they have been overburdened for long already.

    • lunarul@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      The equivalent expression in my language is “the drop that filled the glass”. As with the camel, the glass was already full, it just needed one more drop to reach its limit.