Achilles’ heel
Meaning
a vulnerable spot or weakness
For example
The corrupt minister is regarded as the government’s Achilles heel and is expected to resign.
Though he was a good person, his short temper was his Achilles heel.
Origin
The phrase has its origins in the legend of the Greek hero Achilles. According to the legend, Achilles was dipped into the river Styx by his mother Thetis to him invulnerable. The only portion of his body not immersed into the water was his heels, by which his mother held him. As a result, the heels were the only vulnerable part of his body. He was later killed by an arrow that struck his heel.
Though the legend is ancient, the phrase was not used in English until the 19th century. An early citation appears in an essay by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in “The Friend; a literary, moral and political weekly paper” in 1810.
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