Tuesday, October 23, 2012

One for Macquarie

hock - used to mean pawn something, use it (that something) as collateral to borrow money, or sell it to the pawnbroker.

Now it's new meaning is to sell it on Gumtree.

I just heard it on TV.

Get onto it, Sue!

2 comments:

steveH said...

Kae, on this side of the Big Pond, in the sense of trying to sell something, the word's usually spelled "hawk". For whatever reason.

Homonyms weirdify English.

kae said...

Steve H.

When you go to a pawnbroker you hock your goods, you use the goods as collateral for a loan.

The expression "in hock" means in debt.

A hawker is a seller of goods, usually door to door.