Words: Petard, n.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.THERE ARE 295 instances of the word petard in our newspaper database and all but 42 of them have the word hoist (or hoisted) in close proximity. Inspecting a few of those 42 petards that have not been hoisted, however, reveals a horse called Miss Petard, a chipshop owner called Mr Petard, a battleship HMS Petard and a Home Security firm called Petard. A non-hoist petard without a capital P is a rare creature indeed.
A petard was a type of battering ram with an explosive head. To be hoist with one's own petard is to be blown up with one's own weapons: "For 'tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with his own petard" (Hamlet, Act III, scene 4).
The word has a nice etymology: it comes from the same root as the French verb peter, to break wind.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments