Did You Know?

The phrase “beyond the pale” originated in the 14th century in England and Ireland. The four eastern counties of Meath, Louth, Dublin, and Kildare were the “obedient shires” and the only part of Ireland remaining under the control of the English crown. People would mark the “King’s perimeter” using wooden fencing known as “pales”. The phrase’s earliest printed reference is in John Harington’s 1657 poem The History of Polindor and Flostella, where it conveyed a clear message: “decent people stay inside the pale”. The phrase now figuratively means being outside the accepted norm – Now you know!