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You are here: Home / Language / What Does the Expression “Dire Straits” Mean and Where Did the Phrase Come From?

What Does the Expression “Dire Straits” Mean and Where Did the Phrase Come From?

July 2, 2020 by Karen Hill

Strait is a Middle English word that was used by sailors to describe a narrow or tight and difficult-to-manoeuvre channel of water such as the Straits of Gibraltar or the Bering Strait.

The word comes from the Latin strictus, meaning “to bind tightly.”

Dire also has a Latin root and means “terrible” or “fearsome.”

Although “dire straits” now signifies any serious day-to-day problem, it originally meant facing an obstacle so difficult to overcome that the odds against navigating through it successfully were overwhelming.

Dire Straits is also a British rock band, formed by Mark Knopfler and his younger brother David Knopfler.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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