The Generalist

Weekly Word: Paling

From The Free Online Dictionary:

  1. One of a row of upright pointed sticks forming a fence; a pale.
  2. Pointed sticks used in making fences; pales.
  3. A fence made of pales or pickets.

From Asimov’s Chronology of the World:

The English established themselves at first only about the area of Dublin. Other parts of Ireland remained outside the English orbit for a long time. Indeed, eventually, the Dublin area was fenced in with palings to keep out the unsubdued Irish. It is from this that the expression arose ‘beyond the pale,’ meaning ‘outside the accepted limits of polite society.’

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