enough rope, give someone



enough rope, give someone

Allow someone to continue on a course and then suffer its consequences. For example, The auditor knew something was wrong but decided to give the chief accountant enough rope . This expression, a shortening of enough rope to hang oneself, was already proverbial in John Ray's English Proverbs (1678).
See also: enough, give

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
AilillAL-yil Irish, Irish Mythology
VeikkoVAYK-koFinnish
Bergman['bə:gmən]
Varuna-Hinduism
SzilÁRd-Hungarian
Fredericafrə-də-REE-kə (Portuguese), fred-REE-ka (English), fred-ə-REE-kə (English)Portuguese, English