Throat, Throttle and Cutthroat
The throat is the passage from mouth to stomach and lungs. Throttle comes from the same word, and English builds hard idioms on both.
The throat is the passage running from the back of the mouth. *Throttle* is a small form of the same word: it first meant the throat itself, then the act of squeezing it, and finally the valve that controls the flow of fuel to an engine — a valve that throttles the supply. English uses the throat for a striking number of aggressive idioms.
- The passage from the mouth. *A sore throat.*
- A narrow opening. *The throat of the valley.*
- Throttle — an engine control. *Open the throttle.*
- Cutthroat — ruthless. *Cutthroat competition.*
- At each other's throats — quarrelling bitterly. *They were at each other's throats.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | throat | A raw throat. |
| Plural | throats | Sore throats. |
| Related | throttle | Full throttle. |
| Adjective | throaty | A throaty laugh. |
| Compound | cutthroat | A cutthroat razor. |
- He has had a sore throat all week.Medical.
- She rammed the throttle forward.Engines.
- Do not ram it down my throat.Idiom: force an opinion.
Throat idioms
- At each other's throats — fighting openly
- Ram down someone's throat — force an idea on them
- Stick in one's throat — be hard to accept or say
- Clear one's throat — literally, or as a pause before speaking
- Cut-throat — ruthless, from a razor with an exposed blade
Old English *þrote*, from a Germanic root probably meaning to swell. *Throttle* is a diminutive, first meaning the throat and later the act of choking.
Why is an engine control called a throttle?
Because it strangles the flow of fuel or air. The word moved from choking a throat to restricting a supply.
What is a cut-throat razor?
A straight razor with an exposed folding blade. The name is blunt about what it could do.