Dear Bob ...In your posting about Metropolis vs the Frontier ("A Pioneer collides with Metropolis," Advice Line, 2/28/2007) uou forgot to mention that in the American frontier during the 1600s-1800s, the European settlers would often have conflicts with the native Americans who typically only had bows and arrows.Hence the reference to the pioneers having been pierced with arrows.- EtymologistDear Etymologist ... Dear Bob …In your posting about Metropolis vs the Frontier (“A Pioneer collides with Metropolis,” Advice Line, 2/28/2007) uou forgot to mention that in the American frontier during the 1600s-1800s, the European settlers would often have conflicts with the native Americans who typically only had bows and arrows.Hence the reference to the pioneers having been pierced with arrows. – EtymologistDear Etymologist …It occurs to me that there’s a missing half to this aphorism: While Pioneers do get the arrows, they also, notoriously, are the cause of severe lead poisoning among those who oppose them. It also occurs to me that if we really want to explore the implications of this metaphor (not always a very fruitful way to spend a rainy afternoon, by the way), it’s worth noting that what the European Pioneers considered to be a frontier was, from the perspective of the Native Americans of the time, not a frontier at all. It was well-explored and entirely settled territory.– Bob Technology Industry