Is 'throw in the towel' appropriate to use at work?

Yes, but only in casual settings like standups, Slack, or conversations with teammates. Avoid using 'throw in the towel' in formal emails to clients or executives.

What's the origin of 'throw in the towel'?

The phrase 'throw in the towel' comes from boxing. When a boxer's trainer throws a towel into the ring, it signals that the fighter gives up and the match should stop.

Can I use 'throw in the towel' in a Jira ticket?

For internal tickets, yes — it's understood. For tickets shared with external stakeholders, use clearer language like 'abandon this approach' or 'stop this effort'.

What's the difference between 'throw in the towel' and 'give up'?

'Throw in the towel' is more colorful and informal. 'Give up' is neutral and works in any situation. Both mean stopping an effort, but 'throw in the towel' often implies you tried hard first.

Does 'throw in the towel' sound negative?

It can sound like admitting defeat, but in tech it's often pragmatic — knowing when to stop is a skill. Context matters: it might mean frustration, or smart prioritization.

How do I encourage someone not to give up using this idiom?

Say 'Don't throw in the towel yet' or 'Don't throw in the towel — we can figure this out.' Adding 'yet' softens it and suggests there's still hope.

Throw in the Towel Meaning | Business English Idioms

Commonness	2/5
Versatility	3/5
Formality	CasualFormalCasual
Spoken ↔ Written	SpokenWrittenSpoken
Directness ↔ Diplomatic	DirectDiplomaticDirect
Region	US and UK

Say it like this

✓I'm about to throw in the towel on this bug.

✓Don't throw in the towel yet — let's try one more approach.

✓After three days debugging, I'm ready to throw in the towel.

✓The team almost threw in the towel, but we found a workaround.

✓Sometimes you have to know when to throw in the towel.

Real examples

Standup

"I've been stuck on this memory leak for two days. I'm close to throwing in the towel and asking for help."

Slack message

"Not throwing in the towel yet, but this API integration is way harder than we expected."

GitHub PR

"Tried three different approaches. Almost threw in the towel but finally got the tests passing."

Jira ticket

"After investigating for 8 hours, I'm throwing in the towel on fixing this legacy code. Recommend we rewrite instead."

Retrospective

"We almost threw in the towel mid-sprint, but the support from QA helped us push through."

Sprint planning

"If we hit major blockers on this feature, should we throw in the towel or extend the deadline?"

Pair programming

"I was about to throw in the towel when you spotted that typo in the config file."

Don't say this

Handle with care. Saying you're "throwing in the towel" too often may make you seem like you give up easily. Use sparingly and explain your reasoning.

✕I will throw the towel.

✓I will throw in the towel.— The full phrase is 'throw in the towel' — you cannot drop 'in the'.

✕He threw in a towel on the project.

✓He threw in the towel on the project.— Use 'the towel', not 'a towel'. It's a fixed idiom.

✕I'm throwing in the towel this bug.

✓I'm throwing in the towel on this bug.— Use the preposition 'on' to connect to the thing you're giving up on.

Other forms

base form

throw in the towel

"Don't throw in the towel just yet."

present continuous

throwing in the towel

"I'm throwing in the towel on this approach."

past simple

threw in the towel

"We threw in the towel after two weeks."

present perfect

have thrown in the towel

"They've thrown in the towel on the mobile app."

infinitive

to throw in the towel

"It's too early to throw in the towel."

Often used with

ready to throw in the towelShows you are close to giving up but haven't yet

throw in the towel on something'On' connects the idiom to the task you're abandoning

almost threw in the towelYou nearly gave up but continued

don't throw in the towelEncouraging someone to keep trying

finally threw in the towelYou gave up after a long struggle

Similar words

give upMore neutral and common; works in any context

call it quitsSimilar casual tone; also means stopping an effort

abandonMore formal; used in documentation or planning discussions

walk awayImplies leaving a situation; slightly different meaning

cut your lossesFocuses on stopping to avoid more wasted effort

Opposites

keep goingpush throughperseverestick with itdouble down

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Practice

Try it

4 quick exercises

Choose the most natural response

1. Your teammate says: 'This legacy codebase is impossible to work with.' What's a natural reply?

Don't throw in the towel — let me help you.Don't throw a towel — let me help you.Don't throw the towel in — let me help you.

Find the error

2. I'm throwing in towel on this feature.

'throwing' should be 'throw''in' should be 'at''towel' should be 'the towel'

Complete the sentence

3. After debugging for hours, I finally threw in the towel ___ that memory issue.

Make this more casual

4. We decided to abandon the migration project.

Questions

Quick poll

Have you said "throw in the towel" in a standup this week?

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