Meaning
Said of accepting whatever refuge, help, or option is available when in difficulty, even an unappealing one, because waiting for something better is not possible. It excuses a compromise choice and usually carries a wry, self-deprecating tone. Informal and usually wry, excusing a less-than-ideal choice made under pressure. Regional use: General English.
Origin
The literal idea is that a vessel caught in bad weather must take shelter at the nearest harbour rather than hold out for a better one. The earliest known print appearance is John Cleland's novel Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (Fanny Hill, 1749), where a character brushes off a compromise with the words 'my dear, any port in a storm'. Cleland offers no explanation, so it is unclear whether he coined it or was quoting speech already in circulation, and nothing earlier has been documented. Later landmarks include an 1809 newspaper use and an 1841 American Whig campaign slogan, and the saying was further spread by the 1908 song 'Any Old Port in a Storm'.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- any harbour in a storm
- any old port in a storm
- any port in a storm will do
Usage Examples
- I took the night-shift job because the rent was due; any port in a storm.
- She was not keen on the tiny flat above the shop, but with the lease ending that week it was a case of any port in a storm.
- Voters who liked neither candidate settled on the challenger as any port in a storm.