The word akimbo is at least 600 years old and one source points to a literal meaning of “a keen bow” meaning “a sharp bend”—which is fairly apt since in this stance the arms are bent about 90 degrees or more.
But the most fearsome of these fences isn't "The Chair, " a 5-foot-3 high hedge fronted by an open ditch, the sharpbend of the "Canal Turn, " or even the dreaded "Becher's Brook, " with its steep 6-foot-5 drop.