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“High and dry” means being stranded or abandoned with no hope of help. The phrase originated in nautical slang to describe a ship stranded on shore during low tide. It later became a general expression for any situation of abandonment. The first recorded use was in 1796, and it is now commonly used to describe someone left midway through an endeavor. “Tall and dry” is a similar phrase used in popular culture.
“High and dry” is an idiomatic English expression meaning stranded, neglected or abandoned with no recourse. It is attested at least from the late 18th century. The phrase originated in nautical slang, but has since become more general, referring to all cases of abandonment with no hope of salvage. The full expression is usually “to be left high and dry.”
The expression “high and dry” refers to a ship stranded on the shore. If a vessel runs aground during high tide, the tide will subsequently recede, leaving the hull of the vessel above water level. A vessel in this position, stranded on the shore and above the water, is impossible to restart until the next high tide. To complicate matters, sailing vessels weren’t built to stay out of the water for long periods and could sustain damage from exposure if beached on land. For this something that is “high and barren” is in a hopeless position, without any possibility of help.
The first recorded use of “high and dry” is from this nautical use. In 1796, the London Times reported that “The Russian frigate Archipelago, yesterday rounded the Nore in full water, which; when the tide went out, she left it almost high and dry. At some point, the expression stopped being used literally for a ship that had run aground and began to be applied to an individual in an equally unfortunate situation. It is unclear when exactly this transition began, but it is probably one of many nautical expressions that entered common usage in the early 19th century.
Usually, “high and dry” refers to a person placed in a hopeless situation by someone else’s actions. It often has the specific meaning of someone or something abandoned midway through an endeavour. By analogy, the person doing this is like water in the example of a ship, lifting the ship into a dangerous position and then abandoning it. “Left up” is an expression with a similar meaning.
The phrase “tall and dry” is widespread in popular culture. It is best known as the title of a 1995 single by the British rock band Radiohead, but it has also been used as the title of many other musical works, including a 1992 album by Definitely Leppard. It is so widely understood that it is often used by sources such as news networks, which generally try to avoid excessive use of idiomatic language.
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