Eggcorn Forum

From a forum thread in which teenagers attempt to explain references and in-jokes to one another. They can be very creative. The question is “what does it mean ‘keeping our troops at bay’?”

link: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthre … ost3010796
—“Keeping out troops at bay” originally meant that troops can not land on shore in a navel invasion. It is now commonly used for cant get into enemy territory. In this case its quite the opposite they cant invade a ship from the shore.
—Alternately it’s a lion – hence it “bays” – A loud howling noise. So it’s keeping the troops at bay – with noise – rather then by attacking.—

Before I wrote it off as bizarre, I decided to check and make sure my own understanding of the phrase was correct, and found the same explanation and more another site, trying to answer the same question.

link: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=246199
—My best guess is that it could come from naval battles. To keep an enemy at (or in the) bay might have meant to prevent an invasion force from making landfall. This is just a guess…”to keep at bay” means precisely as you say. It’s just a compound verb.
—A vixen with cubs to protect would deliberately leave them and run off, leaving a scent for the hounds to follow. She would “bay” (or bark) at her cubs to reassure them they would be safe and that (hopefully) she would be back. So she was keeping the hounds “at bay”.—
And now I’ve managed to confuse myself. I ‘know’ that keeping at bay involves hounds holding quarry by standing and barking at it, and I thought it was the quarry that was held at bay, but now there are so many hits for “keeping the hounds at bay” that I’m starting to wonder if the huntmaster is not holding the hounds at bay, as opposed to allowing them to escalate to the next stage. (You know: phasers on stun, hounds at bay ..)

So?

Last edited by Qov (2008-02-10 21:33:25)