All You Create

Here’s a short and hopefully painless post for your quick-reading pleasure.

What is a whipsaw?

A whipsaw is a two-handled saw that dates back to the 1400s. It can be smallish or it can be big enough to cut down large tree. The idea is this: A cutting job that takes enough effort for two people could be made easier if two people actually do the cutting. Most whipsaws average 6 feet in length.

A whipsaw humorously reminds me of the pushmipullyu (a two-headed animal that is part gazelle, part unicorn) from the “Dr. Doolittle” story — when one head moves, the other head instinctively moves in the opposite direction. It’s all about teamwork, my friends.

Alternatively, Webster’s New World College Dictionary (which the AP Stylebook folks regard as the end-all-be-all of dictionaries) also shows two transitive verb meanings for whipsaw:

Read the entire article.