Talk:Hook Head
Add topicLatest comment: 18 years ago by Sarah777 in topic Origin of "by Hook or by Crook"
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Origin of "by Hook or by Crook"
[edit]I removed the following section:
- The phrase "by Hook or by Crook" allegedly entered the English language during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649-53) when Oliver Cromwell stated he would attack Waterford city "by Hook or by Crooke" - Crook Head being a small headland on the opposite side of the Suir estuary.
- (But it is also said that "by hook or by crook" meant the allowed ways of commonly collecting firewood in old times: a blunt tool that could dislodge dead branches, not a sharp tool that could cut live wood.)
According to http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/82400.html, the phrase dates back at latest to the 14th c., too early for Cromwell. Jeff Worthington 17:59, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
- So if Cromwell said it he was probably just trying to be punny. (Sarah777 06:46, 27 September 2007 (UTC))
- Ironically,the above joke (a good one) is not itself a pun, but rather a play on words.