Show origin of common phrase it Is generally assumed that the expression to the hitter bitter end is 3 of 0 nautical origin when there la Is no windlass on board a ship the cable la Is fastened to pieces of wood palled bitts bills so BO that when the tha whole of at tho the preached rope la Is out the seaman has reached the bitter end or in other words be has done all that la Is possible tho the phrase should be 0 to o tho the better end and arose from tho the fact that when the cable of a ship ehla had been out to its fullest extent it had run out to the end which was little used anti anil therefore to the better end tho the latter la is probably tile the correct term as it la Is used by defoe in robinson crusoe when he describes describe the storm off yarmouth lie ho says we rodo with two anchors ahead and two anchors veered out to the batter end while on tho the other hand dr brewer brewer calls attention to proverbs 54 54 after her end la Is bitter as wormwood oud suggests ge ats that possibly the origin of the the phrase lies iles therein |