Albatross around your neck
Whether you're a student of etymology or you don't even know what that word means, tell us how you think this animal expression originated. We'll post the most accurate as well as the most inventive. Email your answer to when_pigs@discovery.com.
It comes from the poem "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" in which a ship is lost at sea because a crewmember needlessly kills an albatross, which is bad luck. His fellow shipmates make him wear it around his neck as a reminder of his deed.
—audra.fetters
This phrase, I think, was developed because the albatross is a bird that helps warn shippers about bad seas. Hence when they say that you have one around your neck it might just mean that you are up to no good or that you are in trouble.
—letters
This refers to the poem The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner in which an old man tells of his misfortunes at sea. Part of the story recounts how the he had accidentally killed an albatross which is considered a lucky omen to sailors and the crew forced him to wear the dead bird as punishment and in the hope it would allay any bad luck that killing such a good omen might bring. However it didn't work. All the crew except the man who accidentally killed the bird were killed and he had to endure many hardships including a lack of drinking water.
—lemascnb
