ProverbWisdomEnglish originc. 1500

Let the weakest go to the wall.

Meaning: The vulnerable are sacrificed first when resources or power become scarce or contested.

Origin: Recorded around 1500 in the Coventry mystery plays as "The weakest go ever to the wall." The image is probably of a crush in a narrow street, where the weakest are shoved against the walls. Shakespeare's servants joke about it in the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet.

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