By any means necessary, whether fair or foul. Determined to achieve something regardless of the methods required, often implying a willingness to use questionable tactics.
Dating to the 14th century, this phrase originally referred to medieval laws allowing peasants to gather firewood using only a shepherd's crook or a reaping hook - tools that limited how much wood they could take. It evolved to mean achieving goals through any available means.
The phrase perfectly captures human determination with its alliterative punch. What's fascinating is how it shifted from describing legal limitations on gathering resources to describing the abandonment of all limitations in pursuing goals.
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