The achievement of a goal with determination, by fair means or foul, is described as getting things done ‘by hook or by crook’.

The origin of this phrase is linked with an early British practice, at a time when forests were still the exclusive property of royalty.

For any unauthorized commoner, then, to gather firewood in them was a crime, poor people being the only exception.

Though they were not permitted to cut or saw off branches, they were free to remove withered timber from the ground or even a tree, doing so by means of either a hook or a crook.

不管用正义还是非正义的手段来实现决定的目标被描述为“不择手段”。

这个成语的来由是和早先英国的一个行为有关，那时候森林还是皇家的专属财产。

对于任何未经授权的平民，收集木柴是犯罪的，唯独穷人是个特例。

虽然他们不被允许砍伐或运送木材，但是他们可以自由的从地上或是树上“用各种钩子”把枯萎的树枝拉走。