Straight and narrow

Origin of: Straight and narrow

Straight and narrow

The straight and narrow is the conventional or law-abiding route, although one would be excused for spelling it ‘strait’ and narrow because that was the original phrase. The source is the New Testament Matthew 7:13/14, ‘Enter ye at the strait gate; for the gate is wide, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life.” People deduced from this that it was better to keep to the ‘strait and narrow’ to lead a better life. From the early 1700s, the spelling changed to the current straight and narrow.