thin edge of the wedge

1. A minor change that begins a major development, especially an undesirable one. For example, First they asked me to postpone my vacation for a week, and then for a month; it's the thin edge of the wedge and pretty soon it'll be a year. This term alludes to the narrow wedge inserted into a log for splitting wood. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Rewriting, oh pardon me, repurposing Roald Dahl's books is just the thin edge of the wedge.

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She added: "I think it is a dark day for democracy in the UK and I think people should be very concerned that this is the thin edge of the wedge for future legislation."

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“The deaths of however many Russian generals is merely the thin edge of the wedge,” he said.

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Some see it as the thin edge of the wedge when it comes to civil liberties.

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For Muslims, the citizenship law is “the thin edge of the wedge,” said Hasan.

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