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Subject:Posthaste (was one word oxymorons) From:SANDRA CHARKER <scharker -at- OZEMAIL -dot- COM -dot- AU> Date:Sat, 29 Apr 1995 16:28:57 +1000
I can't stand it any longer. Can someone with an OED please post <groan> the
etymology of 'posthaste'. I don't think the post part has anything to do with
'after'; I think the term probably originated as a formal instruction, roughly
equivalent to "urgent courier" or "express mail".
But I've got no evidence for that, and the more I think about associations with
post office, post horse, post chaise, all of which seem reasonable relations of
posthaste, the more I find myself wondering about poster, fence post, trading
post, and how they all fit together. If they do.
