any port in a storm

any port in a storm

Any solution, however unappealing, is acceptable in times of trouble. This originated as a nautical phrase. I don't really like Meg, but I had to ask her for help because she was the only one still in the office last night when my computer crashed. Any port in a storm, I guess.

See also: any, port, storm

any port in a storm

Fig. when one is having serious trouble, one must accept any solution, whether one likes the solution or not. I don't want to live with my parents, but it's a case of any port in a storm. I can't find an apartment I can afford. He hates his job, but he can't get another. Any port in a storm, you know.

See also: any, port, storm

any port in a storm

Any solution to a difficult situation (is better than none), as in John's plan isn't ideal, but any port in a storm. This metaphor was first recorded in 1749.

See also: any, port, storm

any port in a storm

in adverse circumstances any source of relief or escape is welcome.

Literally, this expression applies to a ship seeking shelter from rough weather; it has been in use as a proverb from at least the mid 18th century.

See also: any, port, storm

any port in a ˈstorm

(saying) when you are in trouble you will accept help, etc. that would be unacceptable otherwise: When he went to work there he had been unemployed for a year. It was a case of any port in a storm.

See also: any, port, storm

any port in a storm

Any relief is welcome when one is in great difficulties. The phrase appears in an eighteenth-century play by James Cobb and in Fanny Hill (1759), by John Cleland, where it is suggested that it was already common.

See also: any, port, storm

any port in a storm

Assistance or refuge in a predicament especially an unpalatable one. The metaphor is of sailors happy for any place of safety whatsoever when dangerous weather comes up.

See also: any, port, storm