Re: "hewed to"

Sally Caves skrev:
> Yet another English *usage* thread, but I found this curious:
>
> Mr. Wolfowitz's career has hewed to those same unshrinking precepts, and
> in nominating him for the presidency . . .
>
> This was from my on-line New York Times by Todd S. Purdum.  It seems to
> me the writer meant "cleaved," a word I've always found curious, because
> it means both "split apart" and "stick to."  It contains its own
> antonym.  Now, it seems, "hew" has acquired an antonym as well.  At
> least for Purdum.
>
> Hew: to cut down, to split or cut in half.
>
> But "hewed to"? Anybody else seen the development of "hew" along the
> lines of "cleave"?
>
> Sally
I think they are totally mistaken.  Swedish has two
distinct words _klyva_ "cleave, cut along the length"
and _kliva_ "take a stride".  The rest is easy to figure.

--

/BP 8^)>
--
Benct Philip Jonsson -- melroch at melroch dot se

         Solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant!
                                             (Tacitus)

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