Englishstraight and narrow
Meaning: The path of correct social or ethical behavior that society approves of.
Example: “After a rough few years, he's back on the straight and narrow.”
Origin: Drawn from the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:13–14, contrasting a "strait" (meaning tight or constricted, not "straight" in the sense of unbending) and narrow gate leading to a righteous life against a wide, easy gate leading to destruction — the harder, more disciplined path being the correct one precisely because it demands more effort to follow. The word "strait" itself traces through Old French estreit back to Latin strictus, tightened or drawn tight, the same root behind "strict" and "constrict." Over time "strait" was gradually replaced in everyday spelling by the more familiar "straight," a shift already underway by the 1600s, giving the modern idiom its now-standard, if etymologically inexact, form: staying on a morally correct, disciplined, law-abiding path through life.
More English idioms
- strange bedfellows People or things that one does not normally expect to find together.
- strike it rich To become rich or successful suddenly.
- take a shine to someone or something To like someone spontaneously.
- take it easy To relax.
- take off To leave quickly; or to become suddenly successful or popular.
- take potluck To accept whatever is available.
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Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
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