"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 a lyric in the chorus of Radiohead's song "Little by Little".[8]

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ Arnold, Thomas (1871). Select English Works of John Wyclif (PDF). Oxford: Clarendon. p. 331.
  3. ↑ Martin, Gary. "By hook or by crook". Phrases.org.uk.
  4. ↑ "Forests and Chases of England and Wales: A Glossary". Info.sjc.ox.ac.uk.
  5. ↑ "The Prisoner". Wikiquote.org.
  6. ↑ "The Snows of Kilimanjaro - E. Hemingway". Virginia.edu. Archived from the original on 2016-04-02. Retrieved 2015-01-08.
  7. ↑ "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving". Gutenberg.org.
  8. ↑ "Little by little, by hook or by crook". Genius.com. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
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