The term 'albatross, figuratively' can be summed up by the crossword solution 'ONUS'. An ONUS is a burden or responsibility that someone must bear. The phrase 'an albatross around one's neck' is often used to describe a figurative burden that someone carries with them. This phrase originates from the poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in which an albatross is hung around the mariner's neck as a punishment for killing the bird.