# Was "A bridge too far" a UK idiom before the book and movie popularized it or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-bridge-too-far-a-uk-idiom-before-the-book-and-movie-popularized-it-or-not/720559 "2015-05-22T00:40:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-bridge-too-far-a-uk-idiom-before-the-book-and-movie-popularized-it-or-not/720559/1 "2015-05-22T00:40:49Z")
[“A Bridge Too Far”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bridge_Too_Far_(film)) is both a book and movie based on the book. The phrase supposedly comes from a statement made by British Lieutenant-General Frederick Browning. > [@](#): > > The name for the film comes from an unconfirmed comment attributed to British Lieutenant-General Frederick Browning, deputy commander of the First Allied Airborne Army, who told Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, the operation’s architect, before the operation: “I think we may be going a bridge too far.”[5] Did this exist prior to his statement as a British phrase meaning overreaching or did he coin it on the occasion? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-bridge-too-far-a-uk-idiom-before-the-book-and-movie-popularized-it-or-not/720559/2 "2015-05-22T03:04:34Z")
According to Google Ngram it was first published in 1952: [Google Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=a+bridge+too+far&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Ca%20bridge%20too%20far%3B%2Cc0#t1%3B%2Ca%20bridge%20too%20far%3B%2Cc1) Probably someone quoting Browning. It makes sense when you consider that Market Garden was intended to capture several bridges, but had problems, including supply, that made the capture of the bridge at Arnhem impossible. The phrase fit that situation only. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-bridge-too-far-a-uk-idiom-before-the-book-and-movie-popularized-it-or-not/720559/3 "2015-05-22T03:34:41Z")
Trivia note: Browning’s daughter ended up marrying Montgomery’s son. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-bridge-too-far-a-uk-idiom-before-the-book-and-movie-popularized-it-or-not/720559/4 "2015-05-22T03:38:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Trivia note: Browning’s daughter ended up marrying Montgomery’s son. And Browning himself was married to the author Daphne Du Maurier… who was not happy with his portrayal in the film ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-bridge-too-far-a-uk-idiom-before-the-book-and-movie-popularized-it-or-not/720559/5 "2015-05-22T11:38:58Z")
The earliest hit in Google Books is the 1958 publication of the memoirs of Major General Robert Elliott “Roy” Urquhart. He was a senior aide who detailed the conversation. I couldn’t find any earlier uses so, no, it doesn’t appear to be a British idiom. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-a-bridge-too-far-a-uk-idiom-before-the-book-and-movie-popularized-it-or-not/720559/6 "2015-05-22T12:04:23Z")
It’s such a useful phrase you’d think something else preceded it … eta: I suppose it’s akin to ‘over-egged the pudding’ but not quite the same.