Question: Why do we call someone who'll write almost anything for money a "hack?" The Answer: Well it's not because they sometimes feel like taking an axe to their clients. The origin of the word lies not in a sharp temper--or wit--but rather in the animal kingdom. Hack is short for "hackney," a word that since the 13th century has meant an ordinary horse, an animal that was not a thoroughbred or war horse used by a knight but rather just an everyday nag useful for mundane tasks. In other words, a horse that did the drudge work. After a century or so the word also came into use for a horse that could be hired out. By the 16th century it was being applied to people who did work for hire, including prostitutes. Two hundred years later hackney became hack. (Source: THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY)