the.com/ordeal

Originally trial by fire or water — now just trial by Monday.

means A prolonged, grueling experience that tests your endurance far more than seems fair.

from From Old English 'ordal' or 'ordēl,' meaning a judgment — specifically a judicial test in which the accused faced fire, boiling water, or drowning, with the outcome (survival, a clean burn) read as a verdict from God. It shares a root with German 'Urteil' (verdict/judgment), the 'or-/ur-' prefix signaling something primal or original. The brutal trials faded centuries ago; the word stayed, now stripped of divine judges but keeping all the suffering.

old english root
ordal meant divine judgment, literally
original method
grab hot iron, guilt judged by burns
theory
god would protect the innocent, allegedly
modern version
same pain, zero divine intervention
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