kettling

[Paul Frank]

In German, the verb "einkesseln" has been around for quite some time.
The eight-volume Duden (2nd edition, 1993) defines it as "völlig
einschliessen" (to surround and enclose completely) and explains that it
is mainly used in military contexts. The first citation is from 1973.
But anyone who has read German accounts of the Battle of Stalingrad
knows that the word was already in use in 1943. Grimm's Deutsches
Wörterbuch (1838-1961) defines the noun Kessel as "bei jagden der rings
geschlossene platz, wohin das wild getrieben wird" (roughly: encircled
place where the wild game is driven during the hunt). My uneducated
guess is that that is where the military meaning comes from in German.

Lynne, now I'm confused: am I supposed to put my replies above or below
the post I'm replying to?

Paul


On Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:10 +0000, "Lynne Murphy"
<m.l.murphy at SUSSEX.AC.UK> wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Have you seen this, on the use of the cognate in German?
> <http://transblawg.eu/index.php?/archives/3452-kettleeinkesseln.html>
>
> Lynne
>
> --On Monday, December 13, 2010 11:03 +0000 Michael Quinion
> <wordseditor at WORLDWIDEWORDS.ORG> wrote:
>
> > Paul Frank wrote:
> >
> >> The crowd-control tactic of "kettling," which is on the front pages of
> >> British newspapers this week, is not in the OED. Or at least I don't see
> >> it there. I first came across this word in 2009, in connection with the
> >> G20 protests in London.
> >
> > I discussed this briefly in the World Wide Wors newsletter at the time of
> > the G20 protests in London in 2004. Nobody then seemed to have a good idea
> > where the name comes from and, as far as I can discover, still don't. I'd
> > be delighted to be corrected on this!
> >
> > --
> > Michael Quinion
> > Editor, World Wide Words
> > Web: http://www.worldwidewords.org

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