2006-12-05 04:48:59 · 8 answers · asked by landgirl60 4 in Education & Reference ➔ Quotations
It's from a game of the same name.
'There is a possible association between this term and Pall Mall. That is best-known now as the name of a street in central London which runs between St James's Street and Haymarket - previously a small alleyway. That name was coined from the name of the game pall mall (a game played with a ring and mallet), which was played in the alley. On the face of it pell-mell and Pall Mall are derived separately and are unrelated. There are early records though, from Samuel Pepys and others, of both the game and the alley being called pell mell. Whether the game was disorderly and confused and the name was coined from that is speculative. It may be that the similarity between the two is merely coincidence, backed up by indifferent spelling.'
2006-12-05 04:59:45 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
WEll.. it means.... In a jumbled, confused manner; helter-skelter.
it/s origin....The term “pell” may likely come from an old word essentially referring to a wooden stake. There are several literary references from the 1300s to possibly related phrases such as “pelting” in combat, and to “pele your opponent.” The phrase "pell-mell" (meaning charging in a hectic or chaotic manner) also reportedly derives from the word.
One of the simplest training tools for practicing strikes in Renaissance martial arts was the pell. The pell was an ancient training device for practicing swordplay and training soldiers in arms. It typically served as a practice target for striking with a shield and a wooden sword. A pell is something like the Medieval equivalent of a boxer’s punching bag. It consists of an ordinary wooden post or tree trunk planted firmly in the ground. A pell might be man-height and roughly six to twelve inches in diameter.
I hope this sheds some light on that expression....
2006-12-05 06:05:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The saying is derived from Pall Mall which is a fashionable street in London noted for its many private clubs
2006-12-05 04:51:41 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
To go to the district in London called Pall Mall
2006-12-06 22:35:35 · answer #4 · answered by Scotty 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was an old game that they used to play along Pall Mall in London
2006-12-05 04:50:07 · answer #5 · answered by SteveT 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's from the French 'pele-mele' which means mixed or confused.
Similar to 'melee' which is used to describe a skirmish or a crowd of unruly people or a muddle.
2006-12-05 05:03:14 · answer #6 · answered by DogDoc 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't smoke.
2006-12-05 04:56:22 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no
2006-12-05 04:50:37 · answer #8 · answered by mernieinc 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋