“Home stretch” is a common expression referring to the final part of a journey or process, originating from horse racing. It encourages persistence and has spread widely in popular culture, with various uses beyond its original context.
“Home stretch” is an idiomatic English expression referring to the last part of a journey or process. It’s usually part of the phrase “coming soon,” meaning that a project is nearing completion. The expression originates from horse racing, but its use has spread widely, to the extent that the analogy is now much more common than the original term.
In horse racing, the straight areas between the turns of a circuit are known as “strokes” or “straights”. Racing announcer David Johnson is known for his trademark exclamation, “and down the stretch they come!” During a race, horses can run around the track multiple times. As they pass the final corner and roll down the track towards the finish line, they are said to be on the “final stretch” or “home stretch”. The term therefore refers not to a part of the track, but to a part of the track at some point in the race.
The use of home to refer to the line or finish line in a contest dates back to the 18th century and can be seen in sporting terms as “home plate” in baseball. “Stretch” as a description of an area appears to date from the 17th century, although the term in horse racing does not appear until the mid-19th century, roughly contemporary with “home plate”. The term appears to have left horse racing early in its history; it is also found in baseball, sometimes used to describe the line between third base and home plate, as well as backgammon.
The expression “on the home stretch” is a simple analogy. Just as a horse that is on the home stretch is nearing the finish line, a person or activity “on the home stretch” is nearing its conclusion. The expression is often used to encourage others to persist in the face of obstacles, with the implication that after reaching the finish line, all will be well.
The expression is used extensively outside the horse racing world and has permeated popular culture. The expression has been used as the title of several songs, television programs and books. A series of home buying related workshops uses the name “The Home Stretch,” as do a series of exercises. Despite the fact that the term has no connection to “stretching” in the sense of exercise, other than early linguistic roots, the phrase is recognizable enough for marketers to use it in this sense.
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