I’ll be sharing an idiomatic expression today and I hope you are excited.

The expression is ‘the last straw’.  

the last straw

（压垮骆驼的）最后一根稻草；使人最终崩溃的一击

These days, we tend to think of a straw as something that you drink out of, but that’s actually not what this expression means. straw有“吸管”的意思，但在这里，straw并不是指吸管。

In this expression, straw is something that horses eat, or camels eat. Large animals like that, they eat hay. And one piece of hay, sometimes, we call a straw. 这里的straw是稻草的意思。

This expression comes from a longer expression and longer version is less commonly used, but still most native English speakers will know this phrase. So, I’ll share it with you as well. The expression is ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’. Now, imagine that we are looking at a camel. Camels are very commonly used to carry things on their back long distances usually through the desert or hot places. Let’s imagine we are placing pieces of hay or straws on to the camel’s back one by one by one by one……And of course, this would take a long time, but eventually you would make the load of hay too heavy for the camel. At some point, inevitably, the load would become too heavy for the camel to carry. There is a point where one single straw will make the load too heavy and will break the camel’s back. This is how we got the expression ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’. And it’s often simplified or shortened to ‘the last straw’.

So, what’s the meaning of this expression? The meaning is that the last event, usually this is an event like something someone does, or something that happens, it is the last of a series of events that causes a big problem. And usually it’s a small thing like a straw.

Let’s look at two situations to help you understand how this phrase is used.

Example I

In situation one, let’s say that I hate my job, and I’ve been thinking about quitting for a long time. I am talking to my co-worker.

You know, I’ve been thinking about quitting for a few months now, but when Alex took my parking spot on Monday, I decided to put in my two weeks. That was the last straw.

In this example, I explain how I’ve been thinking about quitting my job for quite some time. Over that time, we can infer that a lot of things happened that I don’t like. For time, those little things accumulated, and when my co-worker Alex took my parking spot, that was the last straw.

We can also infer that at this company, each person has their own assigned parking spot. Sometimes, this is common in companies in North America. Also, in this example, I say that I decided to put in my two weeks. What this means is that I decided to quit.

It is also common with many North American companies to give your company a two-weeks or one-month notice before you actually quit. So instead of quitting one day, and not showing up the next day, you tell your company that you are quitting and give them some time to find a replacement. Now, this small thing that Alex taking my parking spot was the last straw. It was the last in a long series of events that pushed me over the edge. Now let’s look at the second situation here.

Example II

I’m having trouble with my neighbours at my apartment complex. The neighbours play music very loud all day and even late at night. A friend of mine is visiting me and my friend notices the loud music and comments on how loud it is.

A: Wow, it’s 11 pm, and it sounds like they are having a dance party over there, what the…..

B: I know, right? You know what? That’s the last straw. I am calling the police. I’ve tried telling them to keep it down multiple times but clearly they are not listening. This is ridiculous!

In this situation, I am fed up with my neighbours. I have no more patience. I’ve tried to tell my neighbours to turn down the music multiple times but this time, I realize it is not going to work. So, I decided to call the police, and let them handle it. In many places in North America, there is anoise curfew. That means that any loud music or excessively loud noises after a certain time at night usually 10 pm is considered a crime. It’s meant to preserve the silent and maintain a comfortable living situation for everybody in the area. My neighbours have not respected this rule, and as a result, I am calling the police. This single event is the last event in a long series of events that has caused me to make the decision to call the police. In other words, this was the last straw.

Ok everyone, I have a feeling that all of you will find a way to use this in your life. If not, you’ll definitely hear it if you are watching movies or TV shows in English. This expression ‘the last straw’ is very commonly used.