thin edge of the wedge

Idioms  

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]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

thin edge of the wedge

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

From Salon ● May 30, 2023

Lithwick: So this is the thin edge of the wedge.

From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2017

But, sometimes, it is hard to identify the thin edge of the wedge that eventually cracks open the door to greater freedom.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 22, 2016

Only a little; but it may be the thin edge of the wedge, the crack in the wall that will open, later, onto what?

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

After a while the thin edge of the wedge that Mrs. Sheila had been trying to drive into me began to take hold, just a little, in spite of what I knew—or thought I knew.

From The Wreckers by Lynde, Francis