- Meaning
- This idiom means to waste time or effort on a hopeless or already resolved issue, persisting in a futile endeavor. It suggests that further action is pointless, like flogging a horse that’s already dead, and is used to criticize stubbornness or redundancy in arguments or tasks.
- Origin
- The phrase likely originated in 19th-century America, tied to rural life and the imagery of a dead horse. An early use appears in an 1859 *London Times* article, describing a politician ‘flogging a dead horse.’ It gained prominence in the U.S. during debates over slavery, where opponents were accused of beating a dead horse. By the late 19th century, it was common in English, with Mark Twain and others using it to mock pointless persistence.
- Variants
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- Flog a dead horse
- Beating a dead horse
- Examples
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- Arguing with him is like beating a dead horse—he’ll never change his mind.
- They’re beating a dead horse by revisiting that failed proposal yet again.
- Flogging a dead horse won’t help; the project was canceled months ago.
- You’re beating a dead horse trying to fix that old car—it’s beyond repair.
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