Something is about to give?

[Torsten]

I understand that the phrase something is about to give means something is going to happen/something is emerging. What is the origin of this phrase? Is it a shortened version of another phrase such as something is going to give way to....?

Thanks in advance for your sharing your thoughts on this.
Torsten
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Jamie (K)]

Something's got to give means that something is going to fall apart, collapse or yield. You can use give this way in a concrete sense:

Get off that roof! I think it's going to give! (It's going to collapse.)

That guy's so fat that his knees are going to give soon. (His knees are going to buckle under him.)

You can also use it in a figurative sense:

You're getting no cooperation from the bureaucracy, but something has got to give soon. (Someone will yield soon.)

In all of those cases, "gives" is short for the phrasal verb give way.

[Mister Micawber]

.
Interestingly: 'Meaning "to yield to pressure" is from 1577.'
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber