the "polls" have opened across the uk today for local elections

not that i give a tuppeny s**t but it does raise the question, why do we talk about ‘polls’ and ‘polling stations’ in the context of voting?

The word ‘poll’ is of Germanic origin, and first occurs in English in the 13th century, when it meant ‘a head’. Before the days of mass literacy and secret ballots, elections were usually carried out by counting the voters’ heads, and so by the 17th century the meaning of ‘polls’ was extended from ‘heads’ to ‘votes’. This extended meaning has survived even though the original meaning of the word has died out.

The older meaning of ‘poll’ can also be traced in a couple of other familiar words. We still use ‘poleaxe’ (originally an axe used for striking at the head) when we talk of knocking people to the ground with a sudden blow, and we call the larvae of amphibians ‘tadpoles’ (a word which literally means ‘toad heads’, alluding to the fact that they have no limbs and appear to be composed of nothing but their heads).

also, polling meaning "collection or counting of votes" is recorded by 1620s, from the notion of "counting heads;" the sense of "the voting at an election" is by 1832. The meaning "survey of public opinion" is recorded by 1902. A poll tax, literally "head tax," is from 1690s. Literal use in English tends toward the part of the head where the hair grows.

in unrelated pole news, "Pole position". Where every driver wants to be on the starting grid. Its background comes from horse racing, and again refers to the fastest-qualifying horse, which would start the race next to the pole of the inside fence. Motor racing adopted the phrase in the 1950s, despite a lack of poles on the starting grid.

idiots

Posted By: Tombs on May 2nd 2024 at 09:30:27

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