Grasping at straws

March 4th, 2010 by admin

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Posted in columns, February 2010 | 10 comments

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10 comments on this post.

  1. Claire Murphy:

    October 15th, 2010 at 4:07 pm

    Actually from Sir Thomas More, in 1534 “a drowning man will catch at straws”

  2. To Accomplish What? | More: Love. Life. Action.:

    April 13th, 2011 at 8:58 am

    [...] of came out when I was typing. I was immediately unconvinced that this was even a real saying, but The Word Detective put my mind at [...]

  3. Barry:

    April 13th, 2011 at 11:39 pm

    Like a fat lady in a milkshake shop, I was grasping at straws!

  4. doris moretti:

    May 4th, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    My situation was becoming more desperate, and I was grabbing at straws to try prove my innocence.

  5. Grasping At Straws (Why You Can’t Get In) — S. Anthony Iannarino:

    July 8th, 2011 at 10:43 pm

    [...] This is simply grasping at straws. [...]

  6. Dwight:

    September 12th, 2011 at 3:06 am

    The 1534 quote from More is: “A man in peril of drowning catchest whatsoever cometh next to hand… be it never so simple a stick.” He never mentioned or used the word “straw” in his writings, which were always monumentally more colorful than the citation, “a drowning man will catch at straws.”

    For more on this topic read here.

    Thanks for all your hard work, Word Detective!

  7. Janis:

    February 10th, 2012 at 11:57 am

    There is no logic in your metaphor, misuse of the meaning of the phrase, you miss the point. Re-phrase your phrase, please.

  8. Andy:

    March 29th, 2012 at 11:57 am

    You were grasping at straws when you wrote that rebuttal.

  9. R. Springfield:

    May 29th, 2012 at 11:17 am

    On a whim i googled the phrase and found your site. I was flattered to find out your definition is the one i had been thinking of. Thanks

  10. Butterface:

    October 10th, 2012 at 5:47 am

    Your mom was grasping at straws.

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