fall by the wayside meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

fall by the wayside

verb

UK /ˈfɔːl baɪ ðə ˈweɪsaɪd/ · US /ˈfɔl baɪ ðə ˈweɪˌsaɪd/

Etymology

From the Parable of the Sower told by Jesus and recorded in the New Testament of the Bible, the term appearing in Matthew 13:4, Mark 4:4, and Luke 8:5. The parable is the story of a farmer who sows seed, and “some fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it” (Luke 8:5). Jesus then explains: “The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside, are they that hear: then cometh the Devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe, and be saved.” (Luke 8:11–12, King James Version, spelling modernized.) The English term is derived from Ancient Greek ἔπεσεν παρὰ τὴν ὁδόν (épesen parà tḕn hodón, literally “fell beside the path”).

Idiomatic To fail to be completed, particularly for lack of interest; to be left out, to suffer from neglect.

When I faint and fall by the wayside of my cares, it [a "cup of favor"] shall give me strength to bear up, as the refreshments of your sympathy seem to flow from its lip, and when I thirst, it shall be as one of the consecrated fountains of my relief.1843 April 23, J[ohn] T. Sargent, A Cup of Blessing, or The Pastor’s Acknowledgment to His People in Return for Their Full Chalice, Boston, Mass.: Printed by Samuel N. Dickinson, →OCLC, page 10:
The information given is so copious that the facts—archæological, ethnological, and so on—might, we think, have been grouped with advantage, at any rate to students, in special chapters, instead of being allowed to fall by the wayside as chance ordered.1877 January, “Art. II.—1. ‘The Frosty Caucasus;’ an Account of a Walk through Part of the Range and of an Ascent of Elbruz in the Summer of 1874. By F. C. Grove. London: 1875. 2. Travels in the Caucasus and Persia and Turkey in Asia. By Lieut. Baron Max Von Thielmann. Translated by C. Heneage, F.R.G.S. London: 1875. 3. The Crimea and Transcaucasia: Being the Narrative of a Journey in the Kouban, in Gouria, Georgia, Armenia, Ossety, Imeritia, Swannety, and Mingrelia. By Commander J. Buchan Telfer, R.N., F.R.G.S. London: 1876. [book review]”, in The Edinburgh Review, or Critical Journal, American edition, volume CXLV, number CCXCVII, New York, N.Y.: Published by the Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, page 31:

4 more examples

Nature's precious link between a squalid Past and a nobler Future, broken, snatched away from her allotted place in the long chain of the ages! Heiress of infinite hope, and dowered with latent fitness to fulfil her part, now so suddenly fallen by the wayside!1903, Tom Collins [pseudonym; Joseph Furphy], “Wed. Jan. 9th. Trinidad Pad., per Sam Young. Conclave.”, in Such is Life: Being Certain Extracts from the Diary of Tom Collins (Bulletin Library; 5), Sydney, N.S.W.: The Bulletin Newspaper Company, →OCLC, page 198; republished London: Hogarth Press, 1986, →ISBN, page 247:
The boy and girl taking their cue from us also fail to put "first things first" and we find them falling by the wayside because our sense of relative values failed to function.1926 December, Myrtle Hummer, “Abuse of the Competitive Element in the High School Program”, in James Huff McCurdy, editor, American Physical Education Review, volume XXXI, number 10 (number 222 overall), Springfield, Mass.: American Physical Education Association, →OCLC, page 1154, column 2:
At this stage the learner tries to master the new tasks by the only means known—memorizing the rule for each kind of problem. This task being now impossible, even the outward appearance of progress ceases, and, with accompanying distress, another pupil falls by the wayside.1987, Richard R. Skemp, “The Idea of a Schema”, in The Psychology of Learning Mathematics, expanded American edition, Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, →ISBN; reprinted New York, N.Y.; Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2009, →ISBN, page 33:
[D]ying dramatic arts like Kabuki and No (or Noh) that have existed for years [...] are falling by the wayside because of the onslaught of VCRs and the Hollywoodization of the dramatic arts.1996, Kathryn Petras, Ross Petras, “Drama & Film of the World”, in World Access: The Handbook for Citizens of the Earth, New York, N.Y.: Fireside, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 379, column 2:

Related terms: go by the wayside