thin end of the wedge
Seemingly minor beginning
The thin end of the wedge is a seemingly minor action or concession that will lead to larger, more significant consequences.
The image is of a wedge driven into wood—once the thin edge enters, the rest follows inevitably: Allowing phones in class is the thin end of the wedge.
The phrase warns against small compromises that open the door to greater ones.
- tip of the icebergVisible portion suggesting hidden mass
- slippery slopeArgument predicting inevitable escalation
- beginningInitial stage of something
- incrementalismChange through small steps
- onsetStarting point of something
opening gambit · encroachment · precursor · start · precedent · edge case · boiling frog · introduction · tipping point · crossing the Rubicon · cause and effect · pry bar · initiation · fulcrum · chisel · chain reaction · sequence · snowball effect
thin end of the wedgefait accompli
Irreversible completed action
the last straw · full-blown · the whole nine yards · the big picture · the whole shebang
thin end of the wedgeone-off
Singular, unrepeated instance
flash in the pan · anomaly · dead end · nonstarter · self-limiting
thin end of the wedgetoo late
Past the cutoff
water under the bridge · the die is cast · point of no return · false alarm · a storm in a teacup
wedge, thinner, thinnest, thinly, thinness, ended, ending, endless, endlessly