AN ALBATROSS AROUND ONE'S NECK (Idiom)
In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an old, grey-bearded Mariner shoots an albatross--a great sea bird--which appears on the ship. The crew believed the bird had brought them good luck; sometime after the bird's death, the ship suffers ill fortune and the men blame the Mariner. As punishment, they force the Mariner to wear the albatross hanging from his neck, where a cross is usually worn. "An albatross around one's neck" still means "an annoying burden."
- When supplies--including drinking water--run low, we read the lines,
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
(Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons; CTTO)
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