Running roughshod or ripshod

A common euphamism for political power abuse is saying someone or organization has 'run ripshod' through the land. I was going to use the phrase myself the other day when I realized I had no idea what ripshod meant. I searched around and found many other users but no place that could define the word. This started me thinking that perhaps every example I found was just a perpetuation of a common mistake. I tried aother variations on the phrase and finnally hit upon a more common usage: run roughshod. The words roughshod and ripshod don't really sound the same but people use them in the same manner in similar contexts. Does anyone know the proper usage?

Comments

pauly said…
Being I am in my late 50's and my Dad was a farmer who shod his work horses for plowing, I will attempt this.

He used to say we kids ran rip-shod all over the place, meaning we had no rhyme or reason as we "tore" around.

In the plow sense, that would mean rather than the horse allowing you to make straight plow and plant lines, it would rip through the land and mess the field up.

I am from Canada and have found rip-shod has the same meaning as rough-shod, although rough shod actually is the shoe a horse wears to prevent slipping and get a good grip.
3:16 PM
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