APAD: By hook or by crook

Meaning:

 

If someone says they will do something by hook or by crook, they are determined

to do it, even if they have to make a great effort or use dishonest means.

 

Background:

 

A widely held theory is that it comes from the custom of allowing commoners to

take as much wood from royal forests as they could reach with a shepherd's crook

and cut down with a billhook.

 

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While billhook has stayed a weapon and pruning tool, Shepherd's crook seems to

have found applications other than looking after sheep.