tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21898325.post8357684031223877763..comments2023-11-30T02:48:39.075-05:00Comments on When You Stop Believing in It, It Doesn't Go Away: Etymological Musing on Poe's 203rd BirthdayAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00475792277039230669noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21898325.post-36225773720018782132012-01-19T09:54:24.967-05:002012-01-19T09:54:24.967-05:00The mighty OED links hatchet-man to Chinese gang f...The mighty OED links hatchet-man to Chinese gang fights in the 1880s, whereas its earlier sense was the soldier who cleared a path for the others (and consequently risked getting picked off in an ambush). <br /><br />Missing from the OED is any reference to Carrie Nation, who attacked liquor bottles and kegs in saloons with a hatchet during the heyday of the Temperance Movement. <br /><br />I'd guess a hatchet-job meaning a harsh attack comes from a combination of the two. Poe's "Tomahawk Man" nickname seems like a case of someone independently coining a term which was reinvented later on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com