Straw poll -- straw vote -- straw ballot

What is a straw poll and where did the term originate?

First, to locate the origination of a word or term is to understand the derivation or ETYMOLOGY. So, how do you find the etymology of word(s)?

1. Try a print dictionary in the Reference section first.
2. There are special books in the library that explain the etymology of words.Go to the Online Library Catalog by going to the Library homepage and choosing Online Catalog on the Navigation bar.
3. In the Online Catalog search box, check Subjects that contain etymology.
4. The results will give books that have everyday phrases, idiomatic expressions, and other books that offer the etymology of the word.

By investigating with the 4 easy steps above, and using other sources, the etymology of straw poll, straw vote, straw vote was investigated as follows:

1. straw vote
   Also, straw poll. An unofficial vote or poll indicating how people feel about a candidate or issue.
   For example, Let's take a straw poll on the bill and see how it fares.
   This idiom alludes to a straw used to show in what direction the wind blows, in this case the wind of public opinion. O. Henry joked about it in A Ruler of Men (1907): "A straw vote only shows which way the hot air blows." [c. 1885]

   Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
   Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

2. Main Entry: straw poll
   Function: noun
   Definition: an unofficial accounting taken of opinion on an issue or candidate; also called straw vote
   Etymology: from straw 'not having real authority' or 'insignificant thing'

   Source: Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, © 2003 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC

3. 'Brewers Dictionary of Phrase & Fable' gives the following account:
   "An early form of public opinion poll sponsored by the American press as early as 1824, when reporters of the 'Harrisburg Pennsylvanian' were sent to inquire from the townsfolk of Wilmington which candidate they favoured for the presidency. Such polls were subsequently used on a much larger scale and postal voting came to be employed. The name derives from the idea of a straw 'showing which way the wind blows'."
   
   Source: From http://wordwizard.com/
   

TERM'S ORIGIN: According to William Safire's definitive "New Political Dictionary," the term "straw poll" originates with author John Selden (1584-1654), who wrote "take a straw and throw it up into the air - you may see by that which way the wind is. More solid things do not show the complexion of the times so well. . . ."
Safire traces a more modern usage of the term to the Cleveland Leader in 1866, when it wrote "a straw vote taken on a train yesterday resulted as follows: (Andrew) Johnson 12, Congress, 47."

So, if you have managed to read this far, you may have noted that none of the above are definitive, and in fact, some even are in conflict with each other. I actually liked what the Word Detective had to say about the word "straw boss."

"..when I was seated on an actual bale of straw at a rural picnic, did it occur to me to ask my hosts to explain the difference. Hay, I was told, is usually just dried grass, sometimes with a little alfalfa thrown in, used as feed for horses and cattle. Straw, on the other hand, is the stalks of wheat or other grains left over after harvesting the good parts, and is used primarily for livestock bedding. Needless to say, immediately upon learning this I skedaddled to the nearest telephone and canceled the bunk beds my own cows had convinced me to order for them. I am also reconsidering the need for cable TV in the barn.

Since straw is fundamentally a by-product of the real business of a farm, it's not surprising to learn that a "straw boss" is not the "big boss" of any job, but rather an assistant or subordinate boss, usually on the level of the foreman of a work crew. The term is said to have arisen from the usual arrangement of workers threshing wheat in the fields. The primary boss would be in charge of the wheat entering the threshing apparatus, while the assistant, or "straw," boss would supervise the crew gathering and baling the straw that the thresher discarded. "Straw boss" first appeared in print in the late 1800's, and quickly became a metaphor for any low-level supervisor. And since straw bosses rarely wield any real power aside from the ability to make those under them miserable, "straw boss" today is often a synonym for a petty and vindictive superior.

Source: http://www.word-detective.com/

As we were unable to locate an exact etymology of the words straw poll, straw vote, straw ballot, we can at least learn from the above.

gjm, 10.29.04