albatross around one's neck: difference between revisions

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Latest revision as of 17:46, 4 August 2025

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==English==

{{wikipedia|albatross (metaphor)}}

[[File:Dore-I watched the Water-Snakes-Detail.jpg|thumb|Coleridge's Ancient Mariner (engraving by Gustave Doré, 1876)]]

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===Etymology===

From ''{{w|The Rime of the Ancient Mariner}}'' (1798) by {{w|Samuel Taylor Coleridge}}, wherein a sailor's killing of an albatross brings bad luck and results in the dead bird being hung around the killer's neck by his crewmates.

===Pronunciation===

* {{audio|en|en-au-albatross around one's neck.ogg|a=AU}}

===Noun===

{{en-noun|-?}}

# {{lb|en|idiomatic|figurative}} A characteristic, possession, associate, or previous deed that [[hinder]]s one's ability to [[succeed]].

#: ''{{ux|en|He bought the properties last year hoping to make a profit by reselling them; however, with the economic downturn, they have become an '''albatross around his neck'''.''}}

#* {{quote-journal|en|author=Bryce Covert|title=The Demise of Toys 'R' Us Is a Warning|work=The Atlantic|date=2018-06-13|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/07/toys-r-us-bankruptcy-private-equity/561758/|issn=2151-9463|passage=Less attention was paid to the '''albatross''' that Bain, KKR, and Vornado had placed '''around the company’s neck'''. Toys “R” Us had a debt load of $1.86 billion before it was bought out.}}

#* {{quote-journal|en|work=FT Weekend|date=2024-05-04|page=2|title=Le Pen strains ties with German far-right|author=Guy Chazan; Leila Abboud|passage=“Marine wants to be French president, and her chance are pretty good for 2027,” said one former senior AfD official. “Why would she want a bunch of German neo-Nazis like an '''albatross round her neck'''?”}}

====Translations====

{{trans-top|thing that hinders}}

* Finnish: {{t+|fi|riippakivi}}, {{t+|fi|riippa}}

* French: {{t+|fr|poids|m}}

* German: {{t|de|Klotz am Bein|m}}

* Polish: {{t+|pl|kamień u szyi}}

{{trans-bottom}}

====See also====

# {{lb|en|idiomatic}} A characteristic, possession, associate, or previous deed that [[hinder]]s one's ability to [[succeed]].

* [[millstone around one's neck]]

#: ''He bought the properties last year hoping to make a profit by reselling them; however, with the economic downturn, they have become an '''albatross around his neck'''.''

* [[monkey on one's back]]