T-learning # Idiom
Speak Like a Native

That’s the last straw !

Choose the correct definition a, b or c.

a) I can’t tolerate any more.

Well done ! That’s the right answer.

the last straw’ means the last in a series of unpleasant events which finally makes you feel that you cannot continue to accept a bad situation.

The idiom ’the last straw that broke the camel’s back’ is from an Arabic proverb about how a camel is loaded beyond its capacity to move or stand.

This also gives rise to the phrase ’the last/final straw’, used when something is deemed to be the last in a line of unacceptable occurrences.

French translation

le bouquet, le coup de grâce, la goutte d’eau qui fait déborder le vase

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Examples in context

‘New EU biofuels law could be last straw for farmers hit by wet weather and rising costs

Andrew Watts, 52, is looking nervously at the darkening sky. We are standing at the edge of a field, where his new red-and-yellow seed drill is sowing wheat at an impressive clip. The vast machine can cover six hectares (15 acres) an hour but it may not be fast enough to get the whole field done before the rain starts.’

The Observer, 14 Oct. 2012

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’Charity tin theft the final straw for taxis

A WAGGA taxi company thought they could grin and bear a spate of break-ins to their vehicles over the past few months, but a heartless theft which saw a fund-raising tin for a disabled teenager stolen this week was the last straw.’

The Daily Adviser, 24 Aug. 2012

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Everyday usage

Losing my job was bad enough, but being evicted from my house was the final straw.

The impact produced an environmental catastrophe that was the last straw.

b) I can’t drink any more.

Sorry, wrong answer. Please try again.

c) I haven’t got any money left.

Sorry, wrong answer. Please try again.


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