IIIhateusernames t1_jcuci1f wrote on March 19, 2023 at 5:04 PM

Reply to comment by MinniesWorld in Beating a dead horse is a lot more humane than beating a live one. by AtlasShrunked

I'm surprised that there are this many people that don't understand

IIIhateusernames t1_jcthhh7 wrote on March 19, 2023 at 1:14 PM

Reply to comment by JamesR624 in Beating a dead horse is a lot more humane than beating a live one. by AtlasShrunked

It's both. The rider rides the horse to death and is still hitting it with the riding crop to try and get something else out of the horse, but it's dead.

The phrase is used to say that you've covered all the potential material of a conversation and that continuing is pointless.... like beating a dead horse to get more work out of it.