| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| bitter end |
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| is a sailor’s term. The bitter end of a rope on shipboard is the inboard end, the end wound around the bitts. Hence bitt-er. Since it is the very end, and it is tied to the ship, when you reach the bitter end, you have no slack to play with. Figuratively, at the bitter end you have no room to maneuver, and overtones of bitterness (rather than the bitts) come through: the bitter end then becomes the very end and the unpleasant end, hard to take. | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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