This apparent etymology is fascinating, but the article left me disappointed in failing to actually connect the spatial dead-line to the chronological deadline.
There’s a hint that it started to become used metaphorically toward the end of the 19th century, but without any examples of early usage or even speculation as to how a spatial metaphor became a chronological metaphor, the origins of the modern usage remain a mystery.
There’s a hint that it started to become used metaphorically toward the end of the 19th century, but without any examples of early usage or even speculation as to how a spatial metaphor became a chronological metaphor, the origins of the modern usage remain a mystery.