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Andrei Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Pike

0 Gary Schroen flew out soon after the attacks on New York and Washington, helping to set up the 2001 invasion, he told US National Public Radio. 02br
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00He recalled his orders from the CIA's counter-terrorism chief. 02br
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00"Capture Bin Laden, kill him and bring his head back in a box on dry ice," he quoted Cofer Black as saying. 02br
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00As for other leaders of Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan, Mr Black reportedly said: "I want their heads up on pikes." 02br
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00Contacted by the radio network, Mr Black would not confirm that these were his exact words but he did not dispute Mr Schroen's account. 02br
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00I want their heads up on pikes. What is the meaning of this? Pike is a fish. 0230hrefhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4511943.stm
  

Top answer

0 Andrei - a pike is also a long stick! Although putting their heads up on fish might be even more dramatic! 0-

— Khoff

  • 0 Andrei - a pike is also a long stick!
  • Although putting their heads up on fish might be even more dramatic!
  • 0-
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6 Answers
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0 Andrei - a pike is also a long stick! Although putting their heads up on fish might be even more dramatic! 0-
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0 Or a weapon: a long pole, c. 12 ft long, with a spearhead at one end. It was used by footsoldiers to repel cavalry. 02br
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00Once upon a time, the British would decapitate traitors, grammarians, lawyers etc. and stick their heads on the ends of pikes. 02br
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00The heads+pikes were then displayed above the gates of cities, castles, etc. 02br
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0 Very by the way: 02br
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00Whence "turnpike"? Anyone know? 02br
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00CJ 0-
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0 I was hoping someone would ask! I think "in the olden days" a toll road would be blocked by a long pole stretched across the road. When the traveller paid the toll, someone would "turn the pike" aside to let them pass. It was probably fastened like a gate on a hinge, so it could either block the road or be turned parallel to the side of the road. 0-
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0 It's so picturesque I intend to believe it even if it turns out to be wrong! 02br
00It does seem very plausible, though. 02br
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00CJ 0-
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0 There's also 'as plain as a pikestaff', although my dictionary says this derives from 'packstaff', a smooth staff used by a pedlar. 02br
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00How about 'he's a piker', meaning a timid gambler, where does that come from? 02br
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00And then 'the diver is doing a full pike'. His body position in the dive resembles a pike? 02br
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