on one's shoulders

Idioms  

1. As one's responsibility, as in The king carries his entire country on his shoulders, or The success of the conference rests on Nancy's shoulders. This metaphoric use of shoulders as the burden-bearing part of the body dates from the late 1300s.

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Example Sentences

That was the curse of dreaming: One woke to pallid reality, with neither wings on one’s shoulders nor goddess in one’s arms.

From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor

One must keep a head on one's shoulders and use one's reason.

From The Witch and other stories by Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich

The probability that a cougar is gathering his muscles on a limb with the intention of bounding down on one's shoulders, is enough to make the bravest man uneasy.

From The Lost Trail by Ellis, Edward Sylvester

That's what comes of having a head on one's shoulders.

From The Meadow-Brook Girls in the Hills The Missing Pilot of the White Mountains by Aldridge, Janet

"Possibly," Vuillet resumed; "but the best of causes at the present time is to keep one's head on one's shoulders."

From The Fortune of the Rougons by Vizetelly, Ernest Alfred