After all, who wants to be weighed down with a load of luggage on a trip?

BBC: Packing secrets from savvy travellers

Over time the economy will be weighed down by all these costs, like a barnacle-encrusted ship.

ECONOMIST: Voters are now facing a harsh truth

The decision was seen as a key step towards selling some of the business to private investors, as it meant it would not be weighed down by its huge pension scheme liabilities.

BBC: Royal Mail profits rise as parcels business grows

All of this will have to be carefully weighed by universities as they get down to the difficult decision of what level to set their fees at.

BBC: Students could be tough customers

The bank as a whole would be turning a handsome profit were it not weighed down by an ailing investment bank and by nonsensical accounting rules that force banks to take losses on their own debt when their credit ratings improve.

ECONOMIST: British banks

If they were branches of a tree weighed down with snow, they would be torn from the trunk in the first breeze.

ECONOMIST: AN ENGINEERING MYSTERY

Some analysts believe Japanese consumer spending - long weighed down by price deflation and weak sentiment - may also be poised to recover.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Japan economy 'getting stronger'