“By hook or by crook”in other languages

Same idea, different pictures

English rhymes and nobody is sure why. The story about Hook Head and the village of Crooke in Ireland doesn't hold up: the phrase is older than the event it's supposed to come from.

French and Italian spell out the two options: willingly or by force, de gré ou de force, per amore o per forza, for love or by force. Between them, they cover every way of getting it done.