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“Bane of our existence"

agora_hills_
The reason why America wins so many gold medals is not because we are aggressive, competitive people. It's because of our genetic diversity, which also is *the bane of our existence*. What does "bane of out existence" mean?

5 comments

Intelligent-Site721•
It means a significant and long-term problem. Kind of like “nemesis” or “a thorn in one’s side”. I’m honestly a little curious about the context in which you saw this, because I could see it going into some racist territory with that start.
Guilty_Fishing8229•
Whoever wrote that is a racist
Middcore•
[https://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/the-bane-of-my-existence](https://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/the-bane-of-my-existence) [https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/35708/what-is-the-origin-and-meaning-of-the-phrase-bane-of-my-existence](https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/35708/what-is-the-origin-and-meaning-of-the-phrase-bane-of-my-existence)
Limp-Macaron-7465•
Downfall
Federal_Double2472•
Eg. Eugenics is the bane of our existence.