"By hook or by crook" is an English phrase meaning "by any means necessary", suggesting that any means possible should be taken to accomplishing the goal. The phrase is very old, first recorded in the Middle English text Controversial Tracts by John Wyclif in 1380.
The origin of the phrase is obscure, with multiple different explanations and no evidence to support any particular one over the others. For example, a commonly repeated suggestion is that it comes from Hook Head in Wexford, Ireland and the nearby village of Crook, in Waterford, Ireland. Another is that it comes from the customs regulating which firewood local people could take from common land; they were allowed to take any branches that they could reach with a billhook or a shepherd's crook. The word crook has a shepherds crook, used to hook sheep, while hook may suggest a hook.
The phrase was famously featured in the opening credits to the 1960s British television series The Prisoner. It also appears prominently (as "by hook and by crook") in the short stories "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Ernest Hemingway and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving.
"By hook or by crook" is an English phrase meaning "by any means necessary".
By hook or by crook may also refer to:
By Hook or by Crook is a 2001 queer buddy film by writers/directors/actors Harriet Dodge and Silas Howard and produced by Steakhaus Productions. Stanya Kahn was a contributing writer. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
By Hook or by Crook chronicles the tale of two unlikely friends who commit petty crimes as they search for a path to understanding themselves and the outside world. Silas Howard plays Shy, (a Transgender man) who leaves his small town after the death of his father, and heads to the big city to live a life of crime. Along the way, he encounters Valentine, a quirky adoptee, in search of his birth mother. An immediate kinship is sparked between these men and they become partners in crime. Suffering money troubles, emotional problems, and physical confrontations, the duo face their issues head on and learn to trust each other and support each other in pursuit of their goals.
listen close, as close as I am to you
like the bell of liberty, I'll ring a sound that's true
and days go by and seasons too
in time our love may digress with the words we can renew
oh, i'll tell you that I
I love you by and by
I don't know if I'd survive
without a friend like you in my life
and I know words can be the worst to pervey
how it is I feel for you, it's hard for me to say
but if we keep it simple, I think it's better that way
tingled words tend to lead my messages astray
oh, i'll tell you that I
I love you by and by
I don't know if I'd survive
without a friend like you in my life
this web we weave
holds us hand in hand
and if we loosen our grips
we may weaken these strands
so lets reinforce our love and let it echo through the land
and if we don't we may find ourselves washed up with the sand
oh, i'll tell you that I
I love you by and by
I don't know if I'd survive