# Loopholes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loopholes/153202>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [February 6, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loopholes/153202 "2003-02-06T15:16:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loopholes/153202/1 "2003-02-06T15:16:46Z")

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Reading “[What’s the Origin of ‘Loophole’?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mloophole.html)” sent me immediately to my dictionary, where I found that “loophole” is derived from a defunct Middle English word, _loupe_, meaning “to peer or peek.” A loophole, then, is a peephole. While arrow slits and gunports certainly exist in old fortifications, and were certainly called loopholes, I think it’s wrong to say that that’s the origin of the word.

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**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loopholes/153202/2 "2003-02-06T15:36:08Z")

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Thanks, Nametag. The original explanation certainly left me wanting more. Loop? Castle?

Princeton seems to agree with you about peephole:

> [@](#):
>
> loophole
> 
> n 1: an ambiguity (especially one in the text of a law or contract) that makes it possible to evade a difficulty or obligation 2: a small hole in a fortified wall; for observation or discharging weapons
> 
> Source: [WordNet](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=00-database-info&db=wn) ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University

In English, a loupe is a magnifying eyepiece used by jewelers. When I worked on a magazine staff we’d use loupes to look at photos.

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**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loopholes/153202/3 "2003-02-06T16:25:17Z")

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“…Child or a small adult child…”

What exactly is the difference?

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**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loopholes/153202/4 "2003-02-06T16:26:23Z")

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Oops!

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [February 6, 2003, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loopholes/153202/5 "2003-02-06T17:28:53Z")

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From the OED Online:

> [@](#):
>
> 1. fig. An outlet or means of escape. Often applied to an ambiguity or omission in a statute, etc., which affords opportunity for evading its intention. [Perh. after Du. loopgat, in which the first element is the stem of loopen to run.]
> 
> 1663-4 MARVELL Corr. Wks. 1872-5 II. 143 It would be much below You and Me,…to have such loop-holes in Our souls, and to…squeeze Our selves through our own words.
> 
> 1768 FOOTE Devil on 2 Sticks I. Wks. 1799 II. 253 A legal loop-hole…for a rogue now and then to creep through.

So it appears that the first figurative extension was to metaphorically squeeze through a loop-hole to get out of a jam, and this was later extended to a legal loop-hole to squeeze through. Looks like an almost perfect example of the figurative extension of a concrete reality.

Just because loop comes from loupe doesn’t imply that loophole does.

Admittedly, the Online OED doesn’t give as extensive etymologies as the print edition.

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**Author:** ![senor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@senor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senor)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2003, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/loopholes/153202/6 "2003-02-08T05:36:13Z")

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Lets not invade canada. there isn’t anything there.