Wordsmith.org: the magic of words


A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact  


Home

Today's Word

Subscribe

Archives



May 9, 2024
This week’s theme
Words related to mail

This week’s words
snail mail
greenmail
postal
mailed fist
graymail

mailed fist
Image: Niroflex

Bookmark and Share Facebook Twitter Digg MySpace Bookmark and Share
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

mailed fist

PRONUNCIATION:
(MAYLD fist)

MEANING:
noun: A threat or show of force to maintain control.

ETYMOLOGY:
Translation of German gepanzerte Faust (mailed fist), from Panzer (armor) + Faust (fist). The word mail here is an armor made of interlinked rings, as in chain mail, from Old French maile (loop). Earliest documented use: 1897.]

NOTES:
On Dec 16, 1897, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany sent his brother, Prince Henry, to take action in China with the instructions “fahre darein mit gepanzerter Faust ...” No, the emperor wasn’t telling his little brother to read Goethe’s literary work Faust, which explores themes of power and ambition. Faust here is, literally, a fist (nouns are capitalized in German), emphasizing a direct approach using military strength.

USAGE:
“[Field Marshal John French] always felt conflicted over Ireland and vacillated between the mailed fist and the hand of friendship towards the Irish.”
Ronan McGreevy; An Irishman’s Diary; Irish Times (Dublin); May 8, 2018.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another, and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it. -J.M. Barrie, novelist and playwright (9 May 1860-1937)

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith