Over the hump

Posted by J. T. Stocks on August 03, 2008 at 19:05

In Reply to: Over the hump posted by Fred F on July 20, 2008 at 09:08:

: The expression 'over the hump' is used in southern part of USA to mean 'the hard part of the job is behind me'. When climbing a hill the going is tough, but after crossing over the hump (the top) the going is much easier now.
In the late 1950s, a friend of my Dad's quoted this couplet:
"Over the Hump and down the Trail,
The 24s dropped their mail."
"Over the Hump" was a phrase used during WWII. It referred to traversing the eastern Himalayas while airlifting supplies from northeast India to bases in China after the Japanese took the Burma Road ("the Trail").
Flying over "the Hump" was dangerous due to frequent bad weather.