at loggerheads
to be in a dispute with someone
TRANSLATION
to be at loggerheads with so. = mit jmdm. im Clinch liegen; sich in den Haaren liegen
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Blunkett and Kinnock AT LOGGERHEADS -- Home Secretary David Blunkett has become locked in an angry war of words over race with former Labour leader Neil Kinnock. Mr Kinnock kicked off the clash with an attack on Mr Blunkett's remarks that ethnic families should speak English at home.
(BBC News - 30 September, 2002)
(BBC News - 30 September, 2002)
Did you
know?
at loggerheads
If people are at loggerheads then they are quarrelling or arguing with each other.
"Logger" is an archaic English dialect word meaning a heavy block of wood, especially one attached to the leg of a horse to prevent it from wandering away. Shakespeare used "loggerhead" in 1588 the same way we would use "blockhead" (Dummkopf) today, to mean an extremely stupid person, and it's possible that the phrase "to be at loggerheads" simply arose as a way of saying that people who get involved in long, stubborn arguments must be idiots.
Other sources suggests that the origin is nautical. Loggerheads were long handled devices with a spherical cup at one end. These cups were filled with hot tar or pitch which was thrown at enemy sailors. They, of course, responded and both sides were truly at loggerheads.
There is yet another nautical suggestion, this time involving whale boats. In these boats the loggerhead was a channel through which ran the harpoon rope. The channel became very hot when the rope was running out; it had to be cooled with water. The heat generated was likened to that found when people argue.
(adapted from Dr James Briggs)
If people are at loggerheads then they are quarrelling or arguing with each other.
"Logger" is an archaic English dialect word meaning a heavy block of wood, especially one attached to the leg of a horse to prevent it from wandering away. Shakespeare used "loggerhead" in 1588 the same way we would use "blockhead" (Dummkopf) today, to mean an extremely stupid person, and it's possible that the phrase "to be at loggerheads" simply arose as a way of saying that people who get involved in long, stubborn arguments must be idiots.
Other sources suggests that the origin is nautical. Loggerheads were long handled devices with a spherical cup at one end. These cups were filled with hot tar or pitch which was thrown at enemy sailors. They, of course, responded and both sides were truly at loggerheads.
There is yet another nautical suggestion, this time involving whale boats. In these boats the loggerhead was a channel through which ran the harpoon rope. The channel became very hot when the rope was running out; it had to be cooled with water. The heat generated was likened to that found when people argue.
(adapted from Dr James Briggs)
