Beyond the pale

This expression now means beyond the limits of accepted standards and usually refers to behaviour. A pale is a sharpened wooden stake put into the ground to form a fence or ‘palisade’. It derives from the Latin palum meaning stake. Back in The Middle Ages, a palisade or stockade protected a group of dwellings, beyond which it was not safe to go. The Pale of Ireland in the 14th century, for example, was the part of Ireland occupied by the English, beyond which the English dared not venture.