beyond the pale
something that is totally unacceptable
TRANSLATION
beyond the pale = jenseits der Grenzen des Erlaubten --- GOOGLE INDEX beyond the pale: approximately 1,200,000 hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Is cultural difference a good reason, or are some kinds of behaviour BEYOND THE PALE anywhere and everywhere? We may accept distinctive table manners as part of a local or national culture, but hardly the torture of prisoners or the exclusion of women from public life.
adapted from: Geographies of Morality - Roger Lee and David M. Smith
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Six Arsenal players and two from United ended up in court following a fight at the final whistle, which saw Ruud van Nistelrooy pushed by Arsenal players furious at the role he played in the dismissal of Patrick Vieira.
Fergie called Arsenal's behaviour "BEYOND THE PALE" and Wenger was fined by the Football Association for his claim that van Nistelrooy was a "cheat" for helping get Vieira sent off.
adapted from: Mirror.co.uk
adapted from: Geographies of Morality - Roger Lee and David M. Smith
---
Six Arsenal players and two from United ended up in court following a fight at the final whistle, which saw Ruud van Nistelrooy pushed by Arsenal players furious at the role he played in the dismissal of Patrick Vieira.
Fergie called Arsenal's behaviour "BEYOND THE PALE" and Wenger was fined by the Football Association for his claim that van Nistelrooy was a "cheat" for helping get Vieira sent off.
adapted from: Mirror.co.uk
Did you
know?
beyond the pale
idiom
- outside the boundaries of what is normally considered acceptable
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WORD ORIGIN
Pale, in the context of "beyond the pale," refers to a wooden fence or a stake placed in the ground to surround and mark-off a piece of territory, thus creating a barrier. The idea here is that those who live outside this border are not like those whose reside within and therefore do not share the same values, beliefs, customs or traditions.
This meaning of the word pale has been around since the 14th century and was used in various senses such as barrier, safeguard or a limit beyond which it was not safe to proceed. It was used specifically to describe territories inside another country's border. An English Pale once existed inside France for instance. Today it covers the area of Calais. Imperial Russia had a pale within its own borders called the Pale Of Settlement, which was a province in which Jews were by law confined to live.
"The Pale" in Ireland (so named after the late 14th century) was established at the time of Henry II's expedition (1171–72) and consisted of the territories conquered by England, where English settlements and rule were most secure. The Pale existed until the entire area was subjugated under Elizabeth I.
Pale comes from the Latin palus, meaning a stake. Palus is also the root of palisade, pole and impale. Pale, in the sense of a light colour, stems from the Latin pallere. Beyond the pale is sometimes mistakenly written "beyond the pail" because pale and pail are pronounced exactly the same (another example of the difficulty surrounding English pronunciation for non-native speakers).
Pail, which derives from the Old French paielle (a pan or vessel for warming water), is another word for bucket.
(sources: Brewers Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia)
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SYNONYMS
unacceptable, beyond belief, out of bounds, unseemly, improper, intolerable, disgraceful, deplorable, outrageous, scandalous, shocking, insupportable, objectionable, offensive
informal: not on, not the done thing, out of order, out of line, over the top
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"The drinking behaviour of some colleagues was just beyond the pale."
idiom
- outside the boundaries of what is normally considered acceptable
---
WORD ORIGIN
Pale, in the context of "beyond the pale," refers to a wooden fence or a stake placed in the ground to surround and mark-off a piece of territory, thus creating a barrier. The idea here is that those who live outside this border are not like those whose reside within and therefore do not share the same values, beliefs, customs or traditions.
This meaning of the word pale has been around since the 14th century and was used in various senses such as barrier, safeguard or a limit beyond which it was not safe to proceed. It was used specifically to describe territories inside another country's border. An English Pale once existed inside France for instance. Today it covers the area of Calais. Imperial Russia had a pale within its own borders called the Pale Of Settlement, which was a province in which Jews were by law confined to live.
"The Pale" in Ireland (so named after the late 14th century) was established at the time of Henry II's expedition (1171–72) and consisted of the territories conquered by England, where English settlements and rule were most secure. The Pale existed until the entire area was subjugated under Elizabeth I.
Pale comes from the Latin palus, meaning a stake. Palus is also the root of palisade, pole and impale. Pale, in the sense of a light colour, stems from the Latin pallere. Beyond the pale is sometimes mistakenly written "beyond the pail" because pale and pail are pronounced exactly the same (another example of the difficulty surrounding English pronunciation for non-native speakers).
Pail, which derives from the Old French paielle (a pan or vessel for warming water), is another word for bucket.
(sources: Brewers Dictionary of Phrase & Fable, Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia)
___
SYNONYMS
unacceptable, beyond belief, out of bounds, unseemly, improper, intolerable, disgraceful, deplorable, outrageous, scandalous, shocking, insupportable, objectionable, offensive
informal: not on, not the done thing, out of order, out of line, over the top
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"The drinking behaviour of some colleagues was just beyond the pale."
