The Economist this week has the headline
Capitalism at bay.
It denotes an opinion that, referring to the money markets in particular, that capitalism has been backed into a corner by, presumably, hounds of some type.
But how do we use the word bay in the phrase 'at bay' when a bay is also a piece of shoreline?
Morecombe Bay for surfing fanatics. Bay Watch for a soap.
And we say that a hound 'bays' when others might call it a howl. Think of the baying Hound of the Baskervilles.
Pub names such as The Fox at Bay have an image on the pub sign of a fox cornered by the hunters hounds. The fox is snarling and snapping at the hounds as they attempt to tear it apart. I guess that is the image the Economist headline writer wished to convey. It's far from the truth but shows the art of the headline and copywriter. The leader itself (meaning the lead article in the newspaper for that issue) is interesting reading but remember shoul dyou read it that a leader article is an opinion pice, not 'factual reporting'.
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