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Geddes Axe
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
English
Etymology
From Sir Eric Geddes, who chaired a UK government committee charged with finding unprecedented spending cuts in the 1920s.
Noun
en noun Geddes Axe
en UK Any process tending to eliminate non-essential elements
en 1923 Rupert T. Gould The Marine Chronometer 209 Holland Press 1960 The necessity for its maker, if he wishes to remain in business, to produce an efficient machine which shall at the same time be cheap, and therefore must be as simple as possible, has acted as a kind of "Geddes' Axe," (sic) sweeping away a number of inessential contrivances
See also
en eponyms