A weak or unreliable support, as in I'd counted on her to help, but she turned out to be a broken reed. The idea behind this idiom, first recorded about 1593, was already present in a
mid-15th-century translation of a Latin tract, "Trust not nor lean not upon a windy reed."
Join the WikiAnswers Q&A community. Post a question or answer questions about "broken reed" at WikiAnswers.
Copyrights:
 |
 | Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
Search for answers directly from your browser with the FREE Answers.com Toolbar!
Click here to download now. 
Get Answers your way! Check out all our free tools and products.
