cry uncle

Idioms and Phrases

Also, say uncle . Concede defeat, as in The Serbs want the Bosnians to cry uncle , or If you say uncle right now, I'll let you go first in the next game . This phrase originated about 1900 as an imperative among school-children who would say, “Cry uncle when you've had enough (of a beating).” By the mid-1900s it was being used figuratively, as in the examples.