It comes from the reign of Charles ll of England and the stick referred to was a 'Tally stick'. Charles used these as a way to raise money to pay for his various escapades. When a loan was made, the debt was carved in a standard fashion on the surface of a small (preferably hazel-wood) stick, and then the stick was split in half through the center of the carving.
The longer end of the IOU was given to the purchaser, and its handle was called the 'stock'...the root of the word's use in today's markets. Even a mostly illiterate public could read the amount scratched into the wood, and the stick would only fit perfectly with its original other half. That way, when the debtor returned with the money (or goods) owed, the sticks would be matched and the debt would be "tallied."
The King borrowed more and more money using this method, and in the end, could not afford to pay off these debts. So, being the King, he declared that the debts were illegal and refused to make any payments.
Thus he stole a huge amount of the country's gold - having already spent it - and forced the young economy to fall flat on its face. The King's various creditors ended up on 'the short end of the stick' (again, this is the source of that expression) and all credit in the country evaporated pretty much overnight.
(From an article by Matt Collins)
One version of the idiom - to be on the worse end of a bad situation
The Romans used a stick with a sponge on one end to clean themselves after defecating in a communal toilet. When finished with their business, they would pass it to the next guy in line. If the next guy happened to grab the wrong (dirty) end he was said to have "gotten the wrong end of the stick." The related version is "short end of the stick" (along with a scatological slang version).
Another version of the idiom - to misunderstand completely
The expression refers to a walking stick held upside down, which does not help a walker much. It originated in the 1400s as "worse end of the staff."
A complete misunderstanding of the situation
Bad company means following or joining a wrong set of people and end up doing wrong things that will make you end up somewhere not good eg. prison, asylum e.t.c
There is no wrong with sentence to end with also. For example, We can do this work also.
The act of perverting, or the state of being perverted; a turning from truth or right; a diverting from the true intent or object; a change to something worse; a turning or applying to a wrong end or use.
It's usually "the short end of the stick," and it means you get the worst of the deal.
you have run out your string-a cowboy term meaning you have come to the end of your rope-the end-in calf roping to run out your string meaning to throw your loop and upon catching the calf it goes to the end-meaning it's over...
Interior angle or am i getting the wrong end of the stick?
yes, it is wrong.
It's briliant, but when I search it in google, this website gets the wrong end of the stick.
wrong categories but it means "this is the end for me"
You call it "the end of a stick". There is no technical name for it.
The blade at the end of a stick is called a "Bayonet".
Because when you put the north end of the magnet of the north end on the other magnet, or vise versa, it repells, which is when they bounce away from each other.
A tapered stick will be thicker at one end.
The means justify the end: it is important to consider the ethics and morality of how we reach our goals, rather than simply focusing on the end result. Prioritizing integrity in our actions is crucial for ensuring positive outcomes.
Bad company means following or joining a wrong set of people and end up doing wrong things that will make you end up somewhere not good eg. prison, asylum e.t.c
Assuming you start with three and nine tenths, you multiply the three by ten, add the nine and put the total over ten, getting 39 over 10 (which is very like the figure you began with so I may have got the wrong end of your stick.)
joe coles in westfield ctc is going to get beaten up