Nice People Thread Number 10 -the official residence of Nice People

Generali

Erm, isn't it tenterhooks? Used for stretching out drying wool.

lostinrates

Generali wrote: »

Erm, isn't it tenterhooks? Used for stretching out drying wool.

I think its that one.


T. I dunno. Its from fabric making and stretching definitely.

Edit: wikipedia says t but from Latin tendere with d.

neverdespairgirl

I don't know. I'm not sure I've seen it written down often, it's a spoken word for me, really.

I thought of it as meat hanging in a butcher's shop rather than wool, but I could equally be wrong about that.

<runs away and looks it up>

You're right about both, Gen!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4799157/Damp-Squid-The-top-10-misquoted-phrases-in-Britain.html

Generali

lostinrates wrote: »

I think its that one.


T. I dunno. Its from fabric making and stretching definitely.

I think fullers used to take wool and treat it with chemicals distilled from human wee they had collected to get rid of the lanolin(? that oil on sheep wool) then shape it on a frame with tenterhooks.

I used to know a bloke called Fuller who was a bit of an Arsenal. It used to amuse me that his name stood testament to the fact that his family had collected wee for a living.

neverdespairgirl

There was also some stamping on the wool after it was woven to make the cloth tighter, for many types, I think. Later replaced by water mills and hammers, I think. That (felting) was the second stage.

I have a vague idea that urine was replaced by fuller's earth in the middle ages - before that, urine was used (by Romans as well as us barbarians).

I was reading a book a while ago called Making a Living in the Middle Ages, which probably had the word tenterhooks in it, come to think of it. But it didn't stick.

Generali

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

There was also some stamping on the wool after it was woven to make the cloth tighter, for many types, I think. Later replaced by water mills and hammers, I think. That (felting) was the second stage.

I have a vague idea that urine was replaced by fuller's earth in the middle ages - before that, urine was used (by Romans as well as us barbarians).

I was reading a book a while ago called Making a Living in the Middle Ages, which probably had the word tenterhooks in it, come to think of it. But it didn't stick.

I think fuller's earth is what cat litter (and face masks) are made from. I think it's called fuller's earth because of its ability to suck up wee rather than because it can replace urea and ammonia.

That may well be entirely wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuller%27s_earth

It looks like we're both right, according to Wikipedia at least.

lostinrates

Generali wrote: »

I think fullers used to take wool and treat it with chemicals distilled from human wee they had collected to get rid of the lanolin(? that oil on sheep wool) then shape it on a frame with tenterhooks.

I used to know a bloke called Fuller who was a bit of an Arsenal. It used to amuse me that his name stood testament to the fact that his family had collected wee for a living.

I remember coming across the idea of tenterhooks as a practical item rather than an emotional one in home economics at school where I was keen on weaveing (cause it was very easy and you can make a big bit of stuff quickly) but its fairly limited and the teacher wanted me to do something with it.

The idea I remember refreshed by Wikipedia was that I would felt my multicoloured woven thing which I thought of as a blanket. I was not pleased about this in the least. Ironically, I now wish I had done it :rotfl:

Nikkster

purch wrote: »

No, Bob and his cronies have called off their Tube strike.

Apparently they are going to negotiate instead, which is a novel idea.

His Crow-nies :

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

He can get a taxi from reading. Expect PN's posh alertometre to go ding ding ding.

It's not a posh alert if it's life and limb ......
It's a posh alert to be able to actually afford it though

PasturesNew

lostinrates wrote: »

Doozergirl wrote: »

Before we left this morning DH said i'll check railway, you check gen's results,

GDB could take some lessons from DH .... on all that manly feelings malarky