A: The landlord has notified me that she will hike the rent next month. B: Will you comply? A: I have to. She has me over a barrel — I cannot find a new apartment at this time of the year. Note: This informal saying means to “put someone in a position where they are forced to do what you want.” This slangy expression, first recorded in 1938, supposedly alludes to reviving a drowning victim by placing the body head down over a barrel and rolling it back and forth, so as to empty the lungs of water. |