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To the bitter end


A possibility for this idiom comes from naval terms. It's said that a bitt is a post fastened in the deck of a ship, for fastening cables and ropes. When a rope is played out to the bitter end, it means there is no more rope to be used. Is that the origin of the idiom? It's not been confirmed. Read more about it here.

Now when it is used it's meant to explain the end of someone's efforts or the very end of something.


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