🍃 Turn One’s Back On, To
Turn one’s back on, to - To reject; also, to run away (from a fight). Emerson used it in the first sense in his famous Transcendentalist poem, “Brahma” (1857): “Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.” Tennyson used it in the second sense in “The Revenge”: “Let us bang these dogs of Seville . . . For I never turn’d my back upon Don or devil yet.” The second figurative meaning is the older one, dating from about 1400; the first began to be used about 1600.
Synonyms:
- Reject
- Spurn
- Abandon
- Forsake
- Flee
Antonyms:
- Accept
- Embrace
- Confront
- Welcome
- Face
Related Expressions:
- Give the cold shoulder
- Walk away
- Show a clean pair of heels
- Turn tail and run
Proverbs:
- “He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day.”
- “Don’t burn your bridges behind you.”
Humor-Filled Quote:
“I didn’t turn my back on you, dear. I simply showed my best side.”
Literature, Books, and Poetry Recommendations:
- Poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson - Featuring “Brahma”
- The Complete Works of Alfred Lord Tennyson - Including “The Revenge”
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - Themes of betrayal and redemption.
- Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling - Multiple instances of characters having to face or escape dire situations.
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Exploration of survival and retreat in a bleak landscape.
Songs Featuring This Expression:
- “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele - A song about rejection and moving on.
- “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor - The ultimate anthem of turning your back on hardship.
Movies Featuring This Expression:
- Forrest Gump - Gump repeatedly faces and retreats from conflicts, only to find his own way.
- The Shawshank Redemption - A tale of rejection of the status quo and escape.
- Erin Brockovich - The protagonist refuses to turn her back on justice and truth.
Inspirational Departing Thought: Embrace the challenge or take refuge in retreat, but never do it without knowing why. Rejection and running away can sometimes lead us to the path of discovery and resilience.
Author: Lexi Quibbleworth
