Talk:wits' end

The original phrase is 'at one's wit's end', as per the Oxford dictionary: I.2.d Phr. at one's wit's end (occas. ends): utterly perplexed; at a loss what to think or what to do. So to bring (drive, or put) to one's wit's end: to perplex utterly. Now commonly taken as 2 c, the word being written as gen. pl. (wits') even in ref. to a single person.

I can't find too many authoritative sources for this online, but here are a couple that have the 'correct'/original version:

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/at-one-s-wit-s-end Also, at wits' end. Completely puzzled and perplexed, not knowing what to do. For example, I've tried every possible source without success, and now I'm at my wit's end. This idiom, which uses wit in the sense of “mental faculties,” appeared in Piers Ploughman (c. 1377).

https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.83694/2015.83694.The-Shorter-Oxford-English-Dictionary-Vol-2_djvu.txt Phr. M one's wit's end : utterly perplexed ; at a loss what to think or what to do. So to bring (drive) to one's wit's end. 121.200.5.187 04:11, 31 October 2019 (UTC)