"Hung Out to Dry" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
Channel: Superduper English Idioms
Date: 2022-10-24

0:00 - How to Say, “Hung out to dry.”
0:47 - Examples of “Hung out to dry.”
1:37 - Meaning of “Hung out to dry.”
2:01 - Origin of “Hung out to dry.”
4:40 - More Examples of “Hung out to dry.”
5:32 - Conclusion

“Hung out to dry.”

If someone says that they were “hung out to dry”, it means that they were left in a vulnerable, helpless, unsafe position. It also often means betrayal, deception; a person that was expected to help, assist, protect, did not do as they promised.

This idiom is very common in all dialects of English and you are sure to encounter it wherever you are. You may also hear the related idiom, “left high and dry”.

“When my parents found marijuana in my room, my brother hung me out to dry by telling them everything!” your friend might be complaining to you.

Maybe your wife is telling you how she got fired for giving homeless people food that was being thrown out anyway, “Yeah, my co-worker said she had my back, but she hung me out to dry.”

“You just hung her out to dry like that?” you might be asking your cousin who told his wife to get out of the car and walk during a heated argument.

As you can see, if you are “hung out to dry”, it means that you were abandoned, ditched, discarded. The idiom also gives a sense of betrayal or deception, as you probably depended upon that person not to hang you out to dry.

The origin of the idiom, “hung out to dry”, is often erroneously cited as a metaphor for hanging laundry out on a line; however, the true origin of this idiom has to do with animals slaughtered for food.

You see, in the days before refrigeration, butchered animals would be hung upon a tree branch to first let the blood drain out; then to dry, usually with the aid of smoke from a fire.

It’s plain to see why “hung out to dry” became the idiom that it is - it was the next step, after taking the life of the animal!

The behaviour of abandoning, turning your back on, deserting someone in their time of need is pretty common amongst humans, so it’s no wonder that similar idioms exist in other languages.

In Spanish, you “cast someone into oblivion” if you hang them out to dry.

You would be “left out in the cold” if you found yourself in a Dutch-speaking region.

Similarly, in a German-speaking region, you’d instead be “left out in the rain”.

In Turkish, you would “lay someone flat”, and as a matter of fact, you’re more vulnerable laying flat than when you’re on your feet.

In your own life, you shouldn’t hang anyone out to dry; especially if you promised to be there for them or they believed that you would always support them.

Similarly, you wouldn’t want anyone who assured you that they would be there, or who should reasonably be expected to have your back, to hang you out to dry.

“When the teacher asked her who was eating in class, my best friend hung me out to dry!” your daughter might be complaining to you.

Perhaps you’re out with your friend and are buying food for yourself, but don’t offer to buy any for your friend, so he says, “You’re just going to hang me out to dry like this?”

“Rich countries have hung poor countries out to dry by not providing economic aid in the face of increasingly intense natural disasters,” a documentary about climate change might be saying.

So, the next time someone turns their back on you, abandons you, leaves you in a time of need, just say that you were “hung out to dry”.

#superduperenglishidioms #englishidioms #idioms #proverbs

References: https://www.quora.com/What-does-the-phrase-hung-out-to-dry-mean

https://www.allpurposeguru.com/2020/03/6-uncomfortable-idioms-origins-of-common-phrases/

https://www.linguee.com/english-spanish/translation/hang+out+to+dry.html

https://tureng.com/en/turkish-english/d%C4%B1md%C4%B1zlak%20b%C4%B1rakmak