Sell down the river in Hindi
Meaning, Devanagari spelling and pronunciation
The meaning of “sell down the river” in Hindi is धोखा देना, pronounced dhokha dena — it is a verb. Copy the Devanagari word above, hear how it is pronounced, and use it anywhere. To type words like this yourself, try our Hindi typing tool, or explore more words in the vocabulary sets.
To betray, especially in a manner which causes serious difficulty for the one betrayed.
Probably from the practice in the U.S., prior to the American Civil War, of trading in slaves who were transported via the Mississippi River:
:* Mark Twain (1885), chapter 42, in Huckleberry Finn: “"[H]e ain't no slave. . . . Old Miss Watson died two months ago, and she was ashamed she ever was going to sell him down the river, and said so; and she set him free in her will."”
:* Colin Woodard (2011), chapter 18, in American nations:
"The least fortunate wound up on the sugar plantations of southern Louisiana and Mississippi, where it was sometimes profitable to work one’s slaves to death. Being “sold down the river” originally referred to slaves being sold by Appalachian people in Kentucky and Tennessee to downriver plantation owners in the Deep South.”
Quick facts about “sell down the river”
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:* Mark Twain (1885), chapter 42, in Huckleberry Finn: “"[H]e ain't no slave. . . . Old Miss Watson died two months ago, and she was ashamed she ever was going to sell him down the river, and said so; and she set him free in her will."”
:* Colin Woodard (2011), chapter 18, in American nations:
"The least fortunate wound up on the sugar plantations of southern Louisiana and Mississippi, where it was sometimes profitable to work one’s slaves to death. Being “sold down the river” originally referred to slaves being sold by Appalachian people in Kentucky and Tennessee to downriver plantation owners in the Deep South.”
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