Chrysti The Wordsmith: Axe to Grind

Greetings and welcome to Christie the wordsmith. On September 7th 1810 Pennsylvania journalist Charles Miner published a story in the loser earned a federalist called who will turn the grindstones. A tale about a man with a dull axe who asks a young neighbor boy if he might use his family's grindstones as the man begins to sharpen the axe. He turns to the boy compliments him on his apparent strength and cleverness and supposes that the lad could quickly grind a very keen edge if he were so inclined. Flattered the boy takes a turn and works the grindstones until the neighbour's axe is razor sharp. Meanwhile ignoring the school bell summoning him back to class. When he proudly offers the finished X to the visitor the man takes it scorns the boy for foolishly doing all the work and reminds him he's late for school. The author of this tale Charles Miner claimed the incident happened to him during his boyhood and from it he learned a lesson flatters

sometimes have hidden agendas minor concluded his story with this observation. When I see a merchant over polite to his customers begging them to taste a little brandy and throwing half his goods on the counter thinks I that man has an axe to grind. Miners popular 1810 story inspired the expression that's come to mean having a selfish agenda. I'm Christie the wordsmith. Good day for horse Christie the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.