tug-of-war
a power struggle between two parties
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
It's A TUG OF WAR
What With One Thing And Another
It's A Tug Of War
We Expected More
But With One Thing And Another
We Were Trying To Outdo Each Other
- from the song "Tug of War" by Paul McCartney
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China Intensifies TUG OF WAR With India on Nepal
(New York Times - News Headlines)
What With One Thing And Another
It's A Tug Of War
We Expected More
But With One Thing And Another
We Were Trying To Outdo Each Other
- from the song "Tug of War" by Paul McCartney
---
China Intensifies TUG OF WAR With India on Nepal
(New York Times - News Headlines)
Did you
know?
tug-of-war (also tug of war)
idiom
- a type of sport in which two teams show their strength by pulling against each other at the opposite ends of a rope, and each team tries to pull the other over a line on the ground
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
- (fig.) a struggle for supremacy or control usually involving two antagonists
(Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary)
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The Oxford English Dictionary says that the phrase tug-of-war originally meant the decisive contest; the real struggle or tussle; a severe contest for supremacy. Only in the 19th century was it used as a term for an athletic contest between two teams who pull on the opposite ends of a rope.
Although there is a lack of official records, the Guinness Book of World Records says the longest tug-of-war lasted 2 hours and 41 minutes and was held between two British companies of a British army regiment stationed in India in 1889.
The Guinness Book also says the longest rope used in a tug-of-war measured 251 metres, had a diameter of 2.2 metres and weighed a whopping 54,500 kilograms. It was used in 2005 by the residents of Uiryong, a village in Korea, for their traditional tug-of-war.
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Politicians should play less tug-of-war and spend more time dealing with issues that are important to the country."
idiom
- a type of sport in which two teams show their strength by pulling against each other at the opposite ends of a rope, and each team tries to pull the other over a line on the ground
(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)
- (fig.) a struggle for supremacy or control usually involving two antagonists
(Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary)
---
The Oxford English Dictionary says that the phrase tug-of-war originally meant the decisive contest; the real struggle or tussle; a severe contest for supremacy. Only in the 19th century was it used as a term for an athletic contest between two teams who pull on the opposite ends of a rope.
Although there is a lack of official records, the Guinness Book of World Records says the longest tug-of-war lasted 2 hours and 41 minutes and was held between two British companies of a British army regiment stationed in India in 1889.
The Guinness Book also says the longest rope used in a tug-of-war measured 251 metres, had a diameter of 2.2 metres and weighed a whopping 54,500 kilograms. It was used in 2005 by the residents of Uiryong, a village in Korea, for their traditional tug-of-war.
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"Politicians should play less tug-of-war and spend more time dealing with issues that are important to the country."
