"By hook or by crook" is an English phrase meaning "by any means necessary", suggesting that any means possible should be taken to accomplish a goal. The phrase was first recorded in the Middle English Controversial Tracts of John Wyclif in 1380.[1][2]
The origin of the phrase is obscure, with multiple different explanations and no evidence to support any particular one over the others.[3] For example, a commonly repeated suggestion is that it comes from Hook Head in Wexford, Ireland and the nearby village of Crooke, in Waterford, Ireland. As such, the phrase would derive from a vow by Oliver Cromwell to take Waterford by Hook (on the Wexford side of Waterford Estuary) or by Crook (a village on the Waterford side); although the Wyclif tract was published at least 260 years before Cromwell. Another is that it comes from the customs regulating which firewood local people could take from common land; they were allowed to take any branches that they could reach with a billhook or a shepherd's crook (used to hook sheep).[4]
The phrase was featured in the opening credits to the 1960s British television series The Prisoner.[5] It appears prominently (as "by hook and by crook") in the short stories "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Ernest Hemingway[6] and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving.[7] It was also used as the title of the 2001 film By Hook or by Crook directed by Silas Howard and Harry Dodge. It was also used (as "By hook or by crook, you're coming with me") by the bounty hunter Cad Bane in the Star Wars: The Bad Batch episode, "Bounty Lost". It was also used as a lyric in the chorus of Radiohead's song "Little by Little".[8]
References[edit]
- ^ Israel, Mark (29 Sep 1997). "Phrase Origins: "by hook or by crook"', The alt.usage.english FAQ file, (line 4953)". Archived from the original on 2008-02-13.
- ^ Arnold, Thomas (1871). Select English Works of John Wyclif (PDF). Oxford: Clarendon. p. 331.
- ^ Martin, Gary. "By hook or by crook". Phrases.org.uk.
- ^ "Forests and Chases of England and Wales: A Glossary". Info.sjc.ox.ac.uk.
- ^ "The Prisoner". Wikiquote.org.
- ^ "The Snows of Kilimanjaro - E. Hemingway". Virginia.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2015-01-08.
- ^ "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving". Gutenberg.org.
- ^ "Little by little, by hook or by crook". Genius.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
External links[edit]
- The dictionary definition of by hook or by crook at Wiktionary
It is the technique of all minority dictatorships which, by hook or by crook, seize power.
Somehow or other, by hook or by crook, this company had to be carried into the next generation of aero-engines.
All other sources have failed and people are forced by hook or by crook to buy a house.
It is obvious that that is done for the purpose of getting, by hook or by crook, a particular answer to that question.
Within the next week or two these people, by hook or by crook, have to get blankets, kitchen tables, linoleum, clothing, etc.
That is understandable, of course, because they had, by hook or by crook accumulated this mass of people who had to be kept satisfied.
Yes, he will intervene by hook or by crook—whether they are hooked figures or crooked figures, he will tell me.
It was complex only because the end gain—privatisation by hook or by crook—was the starting point.
It is in that context that, by hook or by crook, we need to find devices to prevent that from happening again.
The board was determined by hook or by crook sooner or later to make this law apply to private clubs, because it is rabid.
He is, after all, proposing to get £750,000 from the co-operative societies, by hook or by crook.
It is utterly unfair, for the purpose of getting revenue by hook or by crook, and that is what we object to.
It is also clear that these minorities will continue their efforts by hook or by crook, by exaggeration and distortion, to destroy the legislation completely.
They have control of the administration of this industry, and they intend, by hook or by crook, to preserve that control within their own hands.
They will have the fuel by hook or by crook.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.