Heckle

Have you ever heckled? Or, been heckled? Have you ever been the recipient or sender of biting remarks?
 
Where does this word come from? No one is certain but one suggestion is that heckle is from the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root keg (hook, tooth). Old English hecel and 14th century English hechel were words meaning a flax comb. The verb ‘to heckle’, from the early 14th century, meant to comb flax or hemp with a heckle.
 
Heckling is the process of combing flax in order to remove impurities and to make the flax straight, clean, and ready for spinning. After heckling and spinning, flax is ready to be woven into linen.
 
In the 18th century Scotland, heckle meaning to question severely in order to uncover weakness; in particular, the public questioning of parliamentary candidates. The term heckler, someone who taunts a public speaker, is from 1885.
 
I can begin to see the connection between a heckling comb for cleaning flax and taking a not so fine-tooth comb to what ever the political candidates are saying and promising.  
 
Image: Heckling comb / https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecklin...
 
Reference: Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
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