Are Tender Hooks Made Out Of Velvet?
November 28th 2011 06:29
If I were hanging on "tender hooks," I'd certainly want to hope so.
But hooks are not made out of velvet. And they're definitely not ever tender.
The expression is "hanging on tenterhooks."
What?! What the heck is a tenterhook?!
A tenterhook is a kind of nail, bent in an L-shape, that attaches cloth to a thing called a "tenter."
And a "tenter" is a frame that's built to stretch cloth out to dry. So the nail - the "tenterhook" - holds the cloth on the frame.
There are some really clear and informative illustrations out there, but unfortunately, they're all copyrighted, so I can't post them here because they just don't pay me enough to buy images. But you can easily Google the word "tenterhook" and find them yourself.
Why is it called this? Aha, now we're getting into something I can explain - sort of.
The word "tenter" comes from a Latin word for either "tent" or "stretch" - take your pick. (The experts seem to be divided on this.)
But I've seen people write "hanging on tender hooks" and I just can't keep from wondering what they're thinking. I mean, look at the phrase: "tender hooks." Really? What do they think a "tender hook" is, anyway?
Dracula (the real one) and Hitler hung people on hooks. I'm sure other people did, too. How can you even think that hanging anyone on a hook could ever be "tender"? This is a failure to think about what you're writing. Writing is hard enough when you're thinking about it. You can't afford to throw things onto the page (or screen) and not think about them.
Postscript – To my followers. Yes, I've written about leaving Orble and at this point, I still intend to do so, since Orble administration remains indifferent or absent. I'm still looking for a suitable platform and will inform you here when I do this.
But hooks are not made out of velvet. And they're definitely not ever tender.
The expression is "hanging on tenterhooks."
What?! What the heck is a tenterhook?!
A tenterhook is a kind of nail, bent in an L-shape, that attaches cloth to a thing called a "tenter."
And a "tenter" is a frame that's built to stretch cloth out to dry. So the nail - the "tenterhook" - holds the cloth on the frame.
There are some really clear and informative illustrations out there, but unfortunately, they're all copyrighted, so I can't post them here because they just don't pay me enough to buy images. But you can easily Google the word "tenterhook" and find them yourself.
Why is it called this? Aha, now we're getting into something I can explain - sort of.
The word "tenter" comes from a Latin word for either "tent" or "stretch" - take your pick. (The experts seem to be divided on this.)
But I've seen people write "hanging on tender hooks" and I just can't keep from wondering what they're thinking. I mean, look at the phrase: "tender hooks." Really? What do they think a "tender hook" is, anyway?
Dracula (the real one) and Hitler hung people on hooks. I'm sure other people did, too. How can you even think that hanging anyone on a hook could ever be "tender"? This is a failure to think about what you're writing. Writing is hard enough when you're thinking about it. You can't afford to throw things onto the page (or screen) and not think about them.
Postscript – To my followers. Yes, I've written about leaving Orble and at this point, I still intend to do so, since Orble administration remains indifferent or absent. I'm still looking for a suitable platform and will inform you here when I do this.
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