[Ads-l] "clawbacked"

Sat Jun 17 22:35:12 UTC 2023

The OED mentions "claw back" under the verb "claw". The verb endings
are applied to "claw", e.g., "clawed back".

[Begin OED excerpt]
claw, v.
2  a. To seize, grip, clutch, or pull with claws. Also figurative, to
claw back, to regain gradually or with great effort; to take back (an
allowance by additional taxation, etc.); to claw down, to pull down,
to defeat; to shoot down (an aeroplane, etc.).

1953   Economist 21 Feb. 499/1   The Government would also make sure
that..such tax relief was clawed back from surtax payers.

1957   Economist 30 Nov. 804/2   The Commercial Bank is engaged on a
nationalist enterprise—clawing back from the Sassenachs, control of
one of Scotland's banks.
[End OED excerpt]

Interestingly, the OED also has an entry for "claw-back" as a verb.
But the existence of the verb is due to the
misquotation/misunderstanding from 1589 containing "Clawbackes"

[Begin OED excerpt]
claw-back, v.
imagined by Richardson, from a misquotation of Warner (see claw-back
n. 1a, quot. 1589, where R. has clawback as a verb), and uncritically
copied by subsequent compilers.
[End OED excerpt]

[Begin OED excerpt]
claw-back, n.
1 a. One who claws another's back (see claw v. 4); a flatterer,
sycophant, parasite, ‘toady’.

1589   W. Warner Albions Eng. (new ed.) v. xxv. 112   [It] doth make
thy Foes to smile, Thy friends to weepe, and Clawbackes thee with
Soothings to begile.
[End OED excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, Jun 17, 2023 at 6:15 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
<adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Interesting topic, Amy and Victor.
> The phrase "claw-backed farrier's hammer" occurred in 1893.
> Here is an instance of  "clawbacked" with a financial interpretation
> in a Canadian newspaper in 1993.
>
> Date: June 18, 1993
> Newspaper: The Windsor Star
> Newspaper Location: Windsor, Ontario, Canada
> Section: Talking Point
> Article: 'Clawbacked' fight back
> Author: C. McIntyre (Essex)
> Quote Page A7, Column 2
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> When I read Georgina Woltz's Cuts Should Target Political Pensions
> (June 12), I wanted to stand up and cheer.
> As a 77-year-old "clawbacked" pensioner, such as Ms. Woltz eloquently
> describes, I (and, I suspect, many others who are similarly taxed) can
> affirm that I would not object to the enforced clawback of part of my
> OAS pension if I could be assured that this extra taxation would be
> wholly applied either to reduce the deficit or for the benefit of
> those in genuine need.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Below is "clawbacked" with a financial interpretation in a Canadian
> newspaper in 1995.
>
> Date: January 11, 1995
> Newspaper: Times Colonist
> Newspaper Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
> Article: Welfare: Child tax benefit won't work
> Author: Owen Lippert
> Quote Page A5, Column 1
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> LLOYD AXWORTHY, in his discussion paper, Improving Social Security in
> Canada, suggests a Child Tax Benefit (CTB) might replace Ottawa's
> current Canada Assistance Plan (CAP) funding of provincial and
> municipal welfare systems. A CTB would provide a cheque to all low
> income people (on welfare or not) with children. It would gradually be
> "clawbacked" the higher the family income.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Below is the phrase "downsized, claw-backed and NAFTAed" in 1996.
>
> Date: October 21, 1996
> Newspaper: The Vancouver Sun
> Newspaper Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
> Section: Opinion
> Article: GM has more than its share of carrots
> Author: Roger Henning (Summerland)
> Quote Page A11, Column 5
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> Give us a break with this two-dimensional, cartoon analysis of
> staggering profits versus even more staggering profits. GM's profits
> were $1.4 billion last year. Canada's labor cost growth was the lowest
> of G-7 countries. Workers here have been downsized, claw-backed and
> NAFTAed into beggary.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Below is an instance of "clawbacking" in 2000 in Canada.
>
> Date: December 13, 2000
> Newspaper: National Post
> Newspaper Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
> Article: Jean Chrétien's 102nd lie was a whopper
> Author: William Watson
> Quote Page C15, Column 5
> Database: Newspapers.com
>
> [Begin excerpt]
> The pattern is that, with a 50% rate, the $10,000 guarantee doesn't
> phase out until you hit $20,000. Fifty per cent may sound steep. Only
> rich people are supposed to lose half what they make, presumably. But
> in fact, with all the clawbacking of social benefits and tax credits
> these days, low-income folk often face taxback rates well in excess of
> 50, which presumably discourages them from working.
> [End excerpt]
>
> Garson
>
> On Thu, Jun 15, 2023 at 7:25 PM Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:
> >
> > Spotted this in the 14 June newsletter from CommonWealth Magazine:
> >
> > <begin quote>
> >
> >   * The Healey administration scrambled to quickly earmark $80 million
> >     <https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001XztNcaIq-zt8eBqm_sAegZ34MP56uGeu7ihBh3CxVv0ZSgiucytMY9VLMkLBLAnweT8mAfQgLfYaSaD9XGpjeNOirzxRHSHHNygs89teyPM3hZk6Kna-dGFNkiEgzX5eQgHlEZqs0yX-gWoYZe-7q-DI33aawXv5TkkczLh9n4rpzJOtLMzR_YJXsupBxefjbaqDBPQH1Vt2g03vuUpUmrpehQ--kaK0f3Ngw8kHAkec642WjQP0HtSzgYYY-QeTiDFMfoWLh_PaF72yL8e_Iz-nES4KlwtD&c=O7DVjXmxedqo2JnFnJ3YkrN6cX-xEdxYyMR7mgEEDRRTNk5_AQvW3g==&ch=sVPkTeEDW_kks-exIyyRWBwY1ZkcWbGi0vRafaSliT972gl4DmMGeA==>in
> >     unspent federal COVID relief funds before the money could be
> >     “clawbacked” by the feds under terms of the recently passed debt
> >     limit deal. (Boston Globe)
> >
> > <end quote>
> >
> > I'm noting the "clawbacked" instead of "clawed back". I no longer
> > maintain a subscription to the Globe so can't see if it's in the
> > original or was done by the Commonwealth Magazine newsletter writer.
> >
> > ---Amy West
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org