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Reader question: What does “on the ropes” (what ropes?) mean in the following passage from a story about the American gangster Dutch Shultz (The American Mafia, Onewal.com): Schultz was surprisingly successful in his court battles. After a deadlocked jury in Syracuse and an Aug. 24, 1935, not-guilty verdict in the small town of Malone, NY, where Schultz threw some money around in advance of the trial, it appeared the gangster had the government on the ropes. My comments: In the above example, when the gangster is said to “have the government on the ropes”, it simply means the courts appeared to be hopeless in its attempt to convict him. “On the ropes” is a term borrowed from the game of boxing. The ropes refer to those that ring up the canvas, a raised square stage in which two boxers fight. As they fight, they dance and punch in the middle of the ring, avoiding the corners and the ropes. If a boxer is forced into the corner or onto the ropes, there’s no room for them to swing their arms and throw counter punches. Hence, to be forced on the ropes often leads to big trouble and often outright defeat. The great Muhammad Ali by the way used to, as a strategy, deliberately lean on the ropes to conserve energy and absorb punches from the opponent (in order to let the opponent tire himself out). A most dangerous tactic to be sure, and even Ali, arguably the greatest of them all, used it only in the dire-most circumstances. Therefore, using the ropes as a strategy is an exception, not the rule. As a rule, avoid the ropes. | 
