the straw that broke the camel's back

English

Alternative forms

• the stroke that broke the camel's back

Etymology

Possibly from the proverb, recorded by Thomas Fuller in his Gnomologia (1732) as “Tis the last feather that breaks the horse's back.” This comes from an Arab proverb about loading up a camel beyond its capacity to move.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Noun

the straw that broke the camel’s back

1. (idiomatic) A small and seemingly insignificant addition to a burden that renders it too much to bear; the small thing which causes failure, or causes inability or unwillingness to endure any more of something.
   • 1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, chapter II, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 13:

     As the last straw breaks the laden camel's back, this piece of underground information crushed the sinking spirits of Mr. Dombey.

Derived terms

• final straw
• last straw

Translations

small additional burden which causes failure

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: اَلْقَشَّة اَلَّتِي قَصَمَت ظَهْر اَلْبِعِير (al-qašša allatī qaṣamat ẓahr al-biʕīr) (literal translation)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: la gota que fa vessar el vas
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 壓倒駱駝的最後一根草／压倒骆驼的最后一根草 (zh) (yādǎo luòtuó de zuìhòu yī gēn cǎo)

• Czech: poslední kapka, číše přetekla, pohár trpělivosti přetekl
• Dutch: de druppel die de emmer doet overlopen m
• Esperanto: la guto, kiu superbordigis la vazon
• Finnish: korsi, joka katkaisee kamelin selän
• French: la goutte d’eau qui fait déborder le vase (fr) (the drop of water that makes the vase overflow)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: der Tropfen, der das Fass zum Überlaufen bringt (the drop that makes the barrel overflow)
• Greek: η σταγόνα που ξεχείλισε το ποτήρι (i stagóna pou xecheílise to potíri)
• Hebrew: הקש ששבר את גב הגמל (he) (hakásh sheshavár ét gáv hagamál)
• Hungarian: az utolsó csepp a pohárban
• Italian: la goccia che fa traboccare il vaso (the drop of water that makes the glass overflow), goccia che fa traboccare il vaso f
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: ចំបើង​ដែល​បំបាក់​ខ្នង​របស់​សត្វ​អូដ្ឋ (cɑmbaəng-dael-bɑmbak-khnɑɑng-rɔɔbɑh-sat-ʼout)
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: kropla, która przepełnia czarę (pl)
• Portuguese: a gota que transbordou o copo (the drop that spills over the glass)
• Romanian: picătura care a umplut paharul (the drop that filled the glass)
• Russian: ка́пля, перепо́лнившая ча́шу (ru) f (káplja, perepólnivšaja čášu) (the drop that made the bowl overflow)
• Scottish Gaelic: théid capall don choille ach brisidh aon uallach a chridhe (the colt will go to the forest but one burden will break his heart)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ка̑п ко̀ја̄ је прѐлила ча̏шу f

  Roman: kȃp kòjā je prèlila čȁšu f

• Spanish: la gota que colmó el vaso, ser la gota que colma el vaso, la gota que derramó el vaso
• Swedish: droppen som fick bägaren att rinna över (sv) c
• Thai: ฟางเส้นสุดท้ายที่ทำให้หลังอูฐหัก
• Turkish: bardağı taşıran son damla (the last drop that makes the glass overflow)
• Vietnamese: Giọt nước làm tràn ly (the last drop that makes the glass)