By Barbara McAllister
Word of the Day: Ax
Ax can be spelled correctly with or without the “e,” making either version a valid Scrabble word. Americans tend to chop off the final “e,” while the British retain it. Those who follow AP Style, which includes newspapers and many other publications, don’t use the “e.”
The word stems from the Old German word, “axt,” a hand-held chopping tool consisting of a head with one or two blades on a handle. It was originally a formidable barbarian weapon, notably the heavy, fearsome battle-axes carried by Germanic warriors. Today they are tools more commonly used to chop wood or for the increasingly popular sport of axe throwing, currently a sport with Olympic aspirations.
August naturally brings axes to mind. Lizzie Borden’s infamous Fall River ax murders took place in August 1892, although it should probably be more correctly called the Fall River hatchet murders. A hatchet is a small, one-handed ax. The smaller size requires less back-swing and has the advantageous ability to be used in tighter spaces. Of course, the school yard chant “Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her father forty whacks,” isn’t as nearly an effective sound bite with the word “hatchet,” but the Borden household had ample stock of both. Transcripts for the trial show police found two hatchets, two axes, and a hatchet-head with a freshly broken handle on the premises, although none could be positively identified as the murder weapon. Lizzie was cleared of the charges for the gruesome bludgeoning of her wealthy father and stepmother in one of the most famous trials of the century, but many remain convinced that Lizzie was guilty. Transcripts from the trial also showed that on the exceptionally hot August day of the Borden murders, the final meal was a breakfast of mutton soup, reheated mutton and overripe bananas. It may have been a sympathetic jury comprised of gastronomes.
