Angus Stewart on the rebuilding proposals for Christchurch Cathedral:
If Christchurch's cathedral had York Minster's stained glass, the knave of Ely, the ribbed vault of Durham and the cloister at Westminster, it might alleviate pain.
And this howler is then followed by
Clara Glynn on the Scottish system of children’s panels:
The foster mother who poured love into a difficult teenager and turned her life around. The granny who stepped up to the plate when no one else would and took on her daughter's children. The child who emerged as a sane human being from a background that would poll-axe most of us.
Must do better…
8 comments:
Typical Grauniad, they can't get anything write.
The Knave of Ely ran off with the money from the collection tray.
The spelling 'poll-axe' might actually be the correct one. The usual spelling is 'pole-axe', like an axe on a pole. The term is more likely to be derived from the slang term for 'head' - poll (as in 'poll tax'). A poll-axe is an axe designed for spliiting people's heads open.
Perhaps an example of the Graun getting something right purely by accident.
miuminteIt's that dumbing down of education again. Did they go to Jamie Oliver's TV school I wonder?
"The granny who stepped up to the plate…"
Lots of baseball-playing grannies in Scotland, are there?
I knew him you know. Bit of a Jack the lad, usually had an ace up his sleeve but always played his cards right and when he was flush he'd always give you a fair deal.
Interesting. My Shorter OED recognizes only poleaxe but traces the first element to poll (= 'head') and suggests a later respelling by false association with pole.
In other words poleaxe may be a folk etymology which arose after poll in its primary sense of 'head' had fallen into disuse.
"Perhaps an example of the Graun getting something right purely by accident."
Heh! That would be more amusing than a simple transcription error, wouldn't it?
"In other words poleaxe may be a folk etymology which arose after poll in its primary sense of 'head' had fallen into disuse."
That's very plausible. The English vernacular is fascinating, isn't it?
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