Albatross and Alcatraz Island

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Wednesday, 28 July 2010 (28 July 2010)

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Even speakers who have had the misfortune of never studying Coleridge’s long poem Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) are acquainted with the figurative meaning of the word albatross: “A source or mark of misfortune, guilt, etc., from which one cannot (easily) be free; a burden or encumbrance.”
Is Sarah Palin becoming an albatross around the neck of John McCain?
Brown vs. Coakley Shows Obama Has Become a Political Albatross
Ever since you’ve married me, Douglas, you’ve treated me like an albatross.
Sleep has been the albatross around the neck of my parenting life for the past six years.
Is Intellect an Albatross?
albatross syndrome: when faith has been killed and the believer must now wear it as a dead albatross
An albatross is a large seabird. In sailor lore, the albatross is considered to be lucky. In Coleridge’s poem, a thoughtless sailor shoots an albatross with his crossbow. The…

By: Maeve Maddox
From: Daily Writing Tips » Expressions

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