Idiom meaning, usage examples, facts

1. That car costs you so much to repair. It has become an albatross around your neck. Why don’t you get rid of it?
2. I hired my wife’s brother to work in my business but he’s worthless. He doesn’t do anything. He really is an albatross around my neck.

Synonym: millstone around (one’s) neck. An albatross is a large sea bird. The expression comes from the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel T. Coleridge, in which a sailor shoots a helpful albatross with a crossbow, bringing bad luck on the crew of the ship. The other sailors hang the bird around the sailor’s neck as punishment.