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The idiom the straw that broke the camel's back, alluding to the proverb "it is the last straw that breaks the camel's back", describes the seemingly minor or routine action which causes an unpredictably large and sudden reaction, because of the cumulative effect of small actions. This gives rise to the phrase "the last straw" or "the final straw", meaning the last in a line of unacceptable occurrences, provoking a seemingly sudden strong reaction. * The feather of the peacock doesn't weigh that much but if you put one feather more than which a cart can carry, the cart will derail. Thirukural (c. 32 B.C.) * "It is the last feather that breaks the horse's back" (1677);〔Archbishop Bramhall, ''Works'' 4:59, as quoted in George Latimer Apperson, ''English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases: A Historical Dictionary'' (1929), reissued as ''The Wordsworth Dictionary of Proverbs''〕 * "it is the last straw that overloads the camel", mentioned as an "Oriental proverb" (1799);〔"On the Origin and Progress of Taxation", ''The Scots Magazine'' 61:244 (April 1799) (full text )〕 * "it was the last ounce that broke the back of the camel" (1832);〔Henry Lee, "An exposition of evidence in support of the memorial to Congress..." (p. 12 )〕 * "the last straw will break the camel's back" (1836);〔book review, ''The Dublin Review'' 1 (May–July 1836) (full text )〕 * "As the last straw breaks the laden camel's back" (1848);〔Charles Dickens, ''Dombey and Son''〕 * "this final feather broke the camel's back" (1876)〔Mark Twain , ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer''.〕 Other variants are: * "the straw that broke the donkey's back"; * "the last ounce broke the camel's back";〔Ralph Waldo Emerson, ''Notes''〕 * "the last peppercorn breaks the camel's back"; * "the melon that broke the monkey's back"; * "the feather that broke the camel's back"; * "the straw that broke the horse's back". * "the hair that broke the camel's back". Variants were discussed in several numbers of ''Notes and Queries'' in 1893.〔8:3:(p. 48 ) (21 January 1893); 8:3:(118 ) (11 February 1893); 8:3:(p. 232 ) (25 March 1893).〕 ==The last drop== The same sentiment is also expressed by the phrase "the last drop makes the cup run over", first found as "When the Cup is brim full before, the last (though least) superadded drop is charged alone to be the cause of all the running over" (1655).〔T. Fuller, ''Church History of Britain'' 9:2, as quoted in George Latimer Apperson, ''English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases: A Historical Dictionary'' (1929), reissued as ''The Wordsworth Dictionary of Proverbs''〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Straw that broke the camel's back」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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