Pollard

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Slava
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Pollard

Postby Slava » Fri Dec 12, 2014 11:51 am

12/12/14's GWoTD:

• pollard •

Pronunciation: pah-lêrd • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A tree that has its branches periodically cut back to the trunk so that the new shoots in the spring make it look like a lollipop. 2. A horned animal without its horns, whether by molting or removal for human purposes. 3. (Australian) Bran sifted from flour or flour mixed with bran.

Notes: Today's word identifies trees whose tops have been pruned back to the trunk or the ends of major branches. Since new growth comes out from tree trunks at a consistent pace and for a specific time, the result in the spring is a tree with a perfectly circular crown. Trees do not grow that way naturally; they must be pollarded or simply polled.

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In Play: Today's Good Word is mostly attributed to trees in Europe. Ouch! Since in the US pollarding is rare, when US tourists see this phenomenon in Europe, most don't know what it's called: "All the maples in Perry Winkle's garden are pollards, so that in the fall they will look like giant lollipops in a huge candy store."

Word History: So, what do pollards have to do with tadpoles? Tad is a dialectal variant of toad, missing its O. Pole is a variant of an old word, poll "head", borrowed from Dutch pol "tuft", but which meant at the time English borrowed it "crown of the head or tree". It is also the origin of an English word for a head count (a poll), and the poll in poll tax, which originally meant "head tax". Poll entered English as a verb, so to remove the horns or branches was known as polling. Pollard (poll-ard) follows naturally from this sense of the verb poll.
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George Kovac

Re: POLLARD

Postby George Kovac » Fri Dec 12, 2014 1:58 pm

It is curious that pollarding (or polling?) is popular in Europe but not in the United States. I wonder why. You'd think that in temperate climates similar to Europe the practice would have jumped the pond.

Here in south Florida there is a practice beyond pollarding called "hat-racking" in which a tree's canopy is cut back very severely--100% in many cases. It's Florida, everything grows back quickly, and you can prevent a tree from growing to its full large potential. The thought (incorrect) of some homeowners is that trimming back to the trunk and major branches periodically will enable a tree to better withstand a hurricane. Arborists say that such belief is incorrect, and that hat-racking harms the tree's general health as well as its ability to withstand hurricanes. Most civilians would agree that a recently hat-racked tree in Florida is hideous to look at, unlike a nicely polled French maple. Beyond aesthetics and arboral wisdom, hat-racking is illegal under many county and municipal codes in Florida, resulting in fines to homeowners and tree trimmers. Most licensed tree trimmers will refuse to trim the canopy of a tree by more than 25%, which is the legal limit in most places.

Eileen Opiolka
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Re: Pollard

Postby Eileen Opiolka » Sat Dec 13, 2014 5:18 am

A lovely word. It set me thinking of bollard. And then hollered, collared .. but if I follered that train of thought, I'd never get my porridge made.
Eileen

Philip Hudson
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Re: Pollard

Postby Philip Hudson » Sat Dec 13, 2014 4:33 pm

Here in the hinterlands, a cow that does not grow horns at all is also called a polled cow. We had polled Herefords on our ranch. Other breeds are preferred now. My dad never gave up on his Herefords. It's long gone now. Our land belongs to a high fenced deer ranch where they grow deer just as if they were cattle.
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Perry Lassiter
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Re: Pollard

Postby Perry Lassiter » Sat Dec 13, 2014 8:27 pm

I had a friend whose last name was Pollard. Any conjectures as to how that became a moniker?
pl

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Slava
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Re: Pollard

Postby Slava » Sat Dec 13, 2014 9:11 pm

Yep, though it is a conjecture. Many moons ago people were often given "bad" surnames as protection against being taken by the devil. If you had a name like No-Finger or Hunchback or Chopped Off, it made you less of a deal.
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Philip Hudson
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Re: Pollard

Postby Philip Hudson » Sun Dec 14, 2014 6:57 pm

Perry: Frank Pollard? You were in good company.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

Perry Lassiter
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Re: Pollard

Postby Perry Lassiter » Mon Dec 15, 2014 10:09 pm

Yep. He drove up from Pineville to W Monroe weekly or twice a week for several months after he retired as my interim minister of education. He was in his eighties and as vigorous as ever. How'd you know him.
pl

Philip Hudson
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Re: Pollard

Postby Philip Hudson » Mon Dec 15, 2014 11:03 pm

Perry: By reputation-- gifted man.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.


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