To bend over backwards

What does the « To bend over backwards » idiom mean?

I thought this idiom, taken literally, would be really laughable once illustrated! It came during one of the conversations at work, with a colleague who received a complex request but had to ‘bend over backwards’ to coordinate everything for the guest.

So this is it, when you bend over backwards, you do everything you can to achieve something. You work very hard to help someone and accomplish something. You go above and beyond, even if it takes a lot of sacrifice. Do you sometimes bend over backwards for your work or your family? Are they a tiny bit grateful for it? Do you sometimes forget your own wellbeing? (Just me asking, ha). At least you get the point.

Now, why do we use this colloquialism? Where does it come from?

Physically, it’d take quite some flexibility to actually bend over backwards, or require to be a top athlete! It’s so surpirse, then, if I tell you that this expression comes from the gymnastics world, especially with the Olympics coming. It’s a metaphor in use in many countries for more than a thousand years, illustrating the athletic art of bending, exactly like a professional gymnast would to get a medal.

Examples to use this phrase…

• There is tough competition in the industry and companies are bending over backwards to keep their customers happy.
• Our hosts were amazing people and bent over backwards to keep us comfortable.
• When his children were small, he used to bend over backwards to fulfill their needs, but now they do not care for him.

You can also say: to do or die, to break one’s butt, to go the whole hog, go above and beyond, to go out of the way, to break one’s neck, to go for the jugular, to go for broke.

Translation in French: Se plier en quatre (to bend one’s in four)