"Ax(e) to grind" redux

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 17:51:48 -0400, Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:

>On Jul 25, 2005, at 4:24 PM, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>
>> There's still the question of when Miner's story was originally
>> published. Both of the above sources say 1811, but Sam found the story
>> appearing (unattributed) in the Nov. 28, 1810 issue of _The Centinel_
>> of Gettysburg, Pa., reprinted from _The Luzerne Federalist_.
>
>The "Luzerne" referred to is also a town in northeast Pennsylvania.

Indeed, and as the blog entry I cited explains, Miner and his brother
published the _Luzerne Federalist_ after moving to the region:

-----
http://vernondent.blogspot.com/2004/10/blogging-in-1820.html
In 1802, Charles and his brother Asher had begun publishing the "Luzerne
Federalist and Susquehanna Intelligencer" in Wilkes-Barre.
-----
http://www.famousamericans.net/charlesminer/
In 1799 he removed to the Wyoming valley, where with his brother he
established the "Luzerne Federalist." This was superseded by the
"Gleaner," for which he wrote a series of humorous sketches, which were
widely read.
-----

So Miner still gets the credit for the story-- we just have to pinpoint
when it first appeared in the _Luzerne Federalist_ between 1802 and 1810.
Miner must have reprinted it in the _Gleaner_ in 1811, and then again in
1815 in his "Poor Robert" collection.

>But, seriously, folks, how does this story relate to the meaning of
>have "an ax(e) to grind"? I've always considered this phrase to be
>another way of saying "a bone to pick" or "a personal interest in."
>Have I simply been mistaken in this belief?

I think the idiom must have shifted its sense somewhere along the line,
probably under the influence of "a bone to pick".


--Ben Zimmer