"the straw that broke the camel's back" The straw that broke the camel's back is the last thing you are willing to accept after which you will not put up with any more. Example: "You broke a lot of rules and we tried to ignore it. But stealing money from us was the straw that broke the camel's back. We're sending you home to your parents." You are at the last straw when you are just about to lose your patience. The straw that broke the camel's back is the last thing that that happened that finally made you upset. Example: "He came to work late every day that week. Then on Friday, he didn't show up at all." Reply: "That was the straw that broke the camel's back." There is a limit to how much straw (long yellow grass) a camel can carry on its back. If you keep putting more straw on top, it will finally break the camel's back. When you are at the last straw you are finally angry and will not take any more. Example: "You have been rude to me all day. I've had it. That's the last straw!" Quoted from this SOURCE: http://www.goenglish.com/TheStrawThatBrokeTheCamelsBack.asp == Added Jan. 17: Sorry I was unable to find the origin in my first answer. Although no date or specific geographic location for the first utterance is given, I think the following does give the origin pretty well. "Donkeys, at least, are great pack animals, and can carry an enormous amount for their size, but if you put on one more thing than their limit, whatever that is, they will sit down, bending all four legs, and won't move at all until you take something off. Its origin is supposed to be that one can keep on putting loads onto a camel's back and, instead of gradually bending under the load, the camel appears to suffer without complaint until the last, tiny additional weight (a straw), in which case it suddenly collapses. Whether camels do actually collapse like that is left as an exercise for the reader and his weights, but that's the theory." Quoted from this SOURCE: http://www.vocaboly.com/forums/ftopic17.html

it originated from the camel that had its back broken hes name of mohamed ismah