selling down the river
Treacherous act of abandonment
Selling down the river means to betray someone, especially for personal gain.
The phrase originates from the American slave trade, when enslaved people in the Upper South were sold to plantations further down the Mississippi River, where conditions were notoriously harsher.
The betrayal sense emerged because being sold down the river meant separation from family and worsening circumstances: He sold us down the river to save his own job.
- enslavementForced human ownership
- abolitionFormal discontinuation of practice
- backstabbingCovert betrayal of trust
- double crossTreacherous act of betrayal
- trustConfidence in another
treachery · antebellum · betrayal · stab in the back · sellout · thrown under the bus · downriver · exploitation · duplicity · oppression · emancipation · human trafficking · plantation · cotton fields · chattel · deceit · Mississippi · ethics
selling down the riverstanding by
Ready to act
keeping faith · having someone's back · staying true · backing up · keeping the faith
selling down the riverprotecting
Keeping from harm
defending · standing up for · shielding · safeguarding · looking out for
selling, seller, sellers, downer, downed, downing, river, rivers, riverside