"albatross around one's neck" meaning in All languages combined

See albatross around one's neck on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Audio: en-au-albatross around one's neck.ogg
Etymology: From The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, wherein a sailor's killing of an albatross brings bad luck and results in the dead bird being hung around the killer's neck by his crewmates. Head templates: {{en-noun|?}} albatross around one's neck
  1. (idiomatic, figurative) A characteristic, possession, associate, or previous deed that hinders one's ability to succeed. Wikipedia link: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, albatross (metaphor) Tags: figuratively, idiomatic Synonyms: albatross round one's neck [UK] Related terms: a millstone round one's neck, monkey on one's back Translations (thing that hinders): riippakivi (Finnish), riippa (Finnish), poids [masculine] (French), Klotz am Bein [masculine] (German), kamień u szyi (Polish)

Alternative forms

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  "etymology_text": "From The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, wherein a sailor's killing of an albatross brings bad luck and results in the dead bird being hung around the killer's neck by his crewmates.",
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          "text": "He bought the properties last year hoping to make a profit by reselling them; however, with the economic downturn, they have become an albatross around his neck.",
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          "ref": "2018 June 13, Bryce Covert, “The Demise of Toys 'R' Us Is a Warning”, in The Atlantic, →ISSN:",
          "text": "Less attention was paid to the albatross that Bain, KKR, and Vornado had placed around the company’s neck. Toys “R” Us had a debt load of $1.86 billion before it was bought out.",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2024 May 4, Guy Chazan, Leila Abboud, “Le Pen strains ties with German far-right”, in FT Weekend, page 2:",
          "text": "“Marine wants to be French president, and her chance are pretty good for 2027,” said one former senior AfD official. “Why would she want a bunch of German neo-Nazis like an albatross round her neck?”",
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        "(idiomatic, figurative) A characteristic, possession, associate, or previous deed that hinders one's ability to succeed."
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        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "thing that hinders",
          "word": "riippakivi"
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          "code": "fi",
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          "sense": "thing that hinders",
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        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "thing that hinders",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Klotz am Bein"
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          "code": "pl",
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          "sense": "thing that hinders",
          "word": "kamień u szyi"
        }
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          "text": "Less attention was paid to the albatross that Bain, KKR, and Vornado had placed around the company’s neck. Toys “R” Us had a debt load of $1.86 billion before it was bought out.",
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          "ref": "2024 May 4, Guy Chazan, Leila Abboud, “Le Pen strains ties with German far-right”, in FT Weekend, page 2:",
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      "word": "albatross round one's neck"
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "thing that hinders",
      "word": "riippakivi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "thing that hinders",
      "word": "riippa"
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      "word": "poids"
    },
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      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "thing that hinders",
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      "word": "Klotz am Bein"
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      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "thing that hinders",
      "word": "kamień u szyi"
    }
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  "word": "albatross around one's neck"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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