Beating a dead horse
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In American English, "beating a dead horse" is an idiom which is most often used as a retort used to make clear that a particular request or line of conversation is already foreclosed, mooted, or otherwise resolved. In Australian English and British English, the phrase is more usually rendered as "flogging a dead horse".
The linguistic roots of this phrase draw on an allusion to literally "whipping" or "beating" a deceased horse in order to make it get up and go. Such efforts, of course, would be utterly fruitless, as a dead horse is extremely unlikely to walk, much less move.
Likewise, when one is "beating a dead horse", one is flailing at a dead or useless idea.
This term is different from "shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted" which refers to not taking action until after a problem has already occurred. Rather, "beating a dead horse" is about the futility of one's complaints or actions.
When one "shuts the stable door after the horse has bolted" it does not return the bolted horse, but it does keep other horses from escaping the same way. However, when one is "beating a dead horse", no amount of action or argument is going to change the facts or the situation.
See also
External links
- ["Beating A Dead Horse"] - GoEnglish.com
- ["To Beat a Dead Horse" - (Jokes at the expense of the Pentagon)] - MIJokes.com
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