• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

Where does the expression “to the bitter end” come from and What does it mean?

By Karen Hill

The phrase “to the bitter end” means: To the last extremity; to death or utter defeat.

This expression has a double meaning, but it is hardly likely that the poetic resemblance between the two meanings is anything more than chance.

That is, in the words of the famous Captain John Smith in his A Sea Grammar (1627): “A Bitter is but the turne of a Cable about the Bits, and veare it out (let it out) by little and little. And the Bitters end is that part of the Cable doth stay within boord.”

Or, as a later seaman put it, “When a chain or rope is paid out to the bitter end, no more remains to be let go”, when the end of the chain or rope reaches the bitts, obviously no more can be paid out.

But death, the end of life, has long been thought to be bitter, and it is no more than natural that, poetically, we should say that when one has come to the end of life, the “end of one’s rope,” that he has come “to the bitter end.”

It has been contended that nautical usage is, properly, “to the better end,” the end of the rope or chain which, being inboard, is little used. But the language of the sea does not substantiate this argument.

Related

  • What Does the Phrase "The Bitter End" Mean and Where Did the Saying Come From?
  • Where does the expression "till the cows come home" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the expression "to come out flat footed" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the expression "to come out at the little end of the horn" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the expression "come off your perch" come from and What does it mean?
  • What does the expression "to get one's come uppance" mean and Where does it come from?

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.

Footer

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Accomplishments Animals Culture Finance Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Law Mythology Odds People Plants Religion Science Space The World Universe Your Body

About · Privacy · Contact
Copyright © 2019 Zippy Facts