dead hand of the past
- idiom
- Formal
:
influencia del pasado
- This Congress is not obliged to be bound by the dead hand of the past.
Examples
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The corporation struggled to move forward due to the dead hand of the past influencing its decisions.
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That the living should be controlling things, the path, the dead hand of the past should not have weight in the presence.
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Skeptical of history's inescapability and utility, not a few modern historians believe their calling is to sever the dead hand of the past rather than pore over its vital remains.
Academic text (2005) -
The dead hand of the past prevented the community from embracing innovative ideas.
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Many believe that the dead hand of the past stifles progress and hinders our ability to adapt.
Synonyms
A controlling past influence that stops new ideas
A continuing influence from the past that holds back change
A custom people have followed for a long time that is hard to change
Antonyms
How Controlling
- Formal
358
4.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The constituents ('dead' + 'hand' + 'past') give a general hint — 'hand' can metaphorically mean control/influence and 'past' indicates something from earlier times — but the phrase’s full meaning (an oppressive, residual influence that blocks change) is a conventional metaphorical extension rather than strictly compositional. A B1 learner who knows the words may grasp that something from the past is exerting influence, but they are unlikely to infer the precise evaluative sense without prior exposure.
Etymology
Dead hand of the past may come from an old law idea where a person's property stayed under control even after they died, as if a dead hand still held things from the past. That's why the phrase describes 'an influence that stops change' and feels like a lifeless grip on the present.