sour grapes

Origin

Our understanding of "sour grapes" springs directly from one of Aesop's timeless fables: "The Fox and the Grapes." Picture a famished fox, eyes gleaming at a luscious bunch of grapes hanging tantalizingly high on a vine. He leaps and strains, again and again, but the prize remains just out of reach. Exhausted and defeated, the fox finally turns away, muttering to himself, "Oh, well, they were probably sour anyway." This simple tale, penned by the ancient Greek storyteller, perfectly captures the human tendency to disparage what we cannot achieve, turning desire into disdain to soothe our wounded ego.