# Origin of the term "Going down to the wire"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-going-down-to-the-wire/27339>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 29, 2000, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-going-down-to-the-wire/27339 "2000-07-29T15:43:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![MadHatter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@MadHatter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadHatter)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-going-down-to-the-wire/27339/1 "2000-07-29T15:43:25Z")

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Does anyone know when, where and how this originated? What is it referring to?

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**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-going-down-to-the-wire/27339/2 "2000-07-29T16:16:29Z")

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Horse racing. The wire is the finish wire.

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**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-going-down-to-the-wire/27339/3 "2000-07-29T16:23:08Z")

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This is a WAG, but I thought the string/ribbon/thin-flexible-material-stretched-across-the-track that marked the end of a race was called the “wire” and that any race that was decided by seeing which contestant broke through it was one that had come “down to the wire.”

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**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\
**Post date:** [July 29, 2000, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-term-going-down-to-the-wire/27339/4 "2000-07-29T16:36:38Z")

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Main Entry: down-to-the-wire  
Pronunciation: 'daun-t&-[th]&-'wIr  
Function: adjective  
Date: 1952  
: full of suspense; especially : unsettled until the very end

Horse racing was once more popular than football in North America.