The Last Straw

Shortened from the fuller proverb "the last straw that breaks the camel's back," first recorded around 1755. Earlier versions of the same idea used a horse rather than a camel; the camel only became the standard beast of burden in the phrase by the late 18th century. The precise wording, camel included, is documented in The Edinburgh Advertiser in 1816, and Charles Dickens used the now-familiar form in his 1846 novel Dombey and Son. English speakers eventually dropped the camel from everyday use entirely, since the shorter "the last straw" already implies the rest of the story.