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Old Man of the Sea

A tiresome burden, especially a person, difficult to free oneself from.

Deirdre has Ken the Cardie Wearer ever at her side, an Old Man of the Sea she can't ditch. He grows daily more brain-sapping as he takes up local causes like t'cobbles in Coronation Street. (Molly Blake: The Mail's First Lady of TV; Evening Mail (Birmingham, UK); Dec 6, 2000.)

{origin}

After Old Man of the Sea, the sea-god, who forced Sinbad to carry him on his shoulders and refused to dismount. In this story from The Arabian Nights, Sinbad the Sailor eventually released himself from his burden by getting the Old Man drunk.

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