Do anyone know the origin of "to and fro"

I'd say, "This way and that way - repeatedly." I watched the tennis ball go to and fro.

The ants were going to and fro, finding things and taking them back to the nest.

Sorry, I don't know the origin.

Hmmm, I guess the origin is all you wanted. Sorry.

Welcome to English Forums, Shane. Thanks for joining us! [<:o)]

I would assume that "to and fro" originates as "to" as in going to somewhere and then "from" as in coming back from that place. "fro" is an abbreviation of "from" . So if you were to say "the chair rocked to and fro", you would mean it rocked one way and then back again "from" that way.
Hope this helps!

Shane,

I believe the origin, as once explained by the Master Carpenter of Colonial Williamsburg, Roy Underhill, has to do with a "fro" or a wedge-shaped tool used in splitting wood to make roofing shingles. The fro is shaped like the letter "L", with the short leg of the tool (the iron splitting edge) placed on top of a section of wood and pounded on with a mallet or the **** of an axe,

Additional comment:

The tool is also spelled "froe" or "frow". Check it out in Wikepedia to see a few illustrations of the tool.

There are Biblical references to this phrase, roughly, "going to and fro", but the phrase was probably of a later origin, and I believe the phrase does reference the action of using the tool to split wood into useful construction materials.

The idea is of biblical origins



1. Hebrew phrase transliterated “ve yatse’ yatso’” “it went out and going out” [Ge 8:7]

2. A Hebrew phrase transliterated ”?echad hennah ve ?echad hennah” (Strong’s lexicon #259 and 208), literally meaning: “once here and once there” [2 Ki 4:25]A

3. A Hebrew phrase transliterated “henna ahath va henna”

It originated in early America.

Old timers used a tool for splitting shakes and making pegs for timber framed buildings. The tool is called a "Froe". It was sunk into woods endgrain and worked "to and froe" to split the wood.