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Re: "hewed to"

From:Benct Philip Jonsson <bpj@...>
Date:Thursday, March 17, 2005, 18:33
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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Ray Brown <ray.brown@...>