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Tenderhooks? Tenterhooks.

11/6/2014

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I got an interesting edit on A Cheyenne Celebration that I wanted to share: When you're "hanging on tenderhooks", the word is actually "tenterhooks". I had no idea (but now understand why my spell check catches it)! So of course I looked it up...

Historically, when making wool cloth, the material ended up... well, sheepy (pretty sure that's a word). With the oils and dirt that the original fleece had on it. So you had to wash it, and then dry it, all without letting it shrink (because, you know, wool shrinks in the wash). So after washing, the wool was stretched on a wooden frame (called the tenter-- from the Latin "to stretch") with nails/hooks driven all around the edges. It was literally pinned to the frame with these "tenter hooks" and left to dry in the sun. 

So now, having seen quite a few of these devices, I can say that they DON'T look pleasant, and definitely not something I'd like to "hang on". Now that I know the origin of the phrase, I know I'll be able to use it more powerfully. Hopefully you will too!

Have you ever discovered that you'd been using a word incorrectly? What was it?
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    Historical Romance is 
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    My love of social history prompted my Master's Degree and years of reading/writing historical fiction. My mantra is 
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  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • Those Kilted Bastards
    • SURPRISE! Dukes
    • Second Chance Manor
    • Highlander Ever After
    • Bad in Plaid
    • The Hots for Scots
    • The Highland Angels
    • The Sinclair Jewels
    • Calendar Girls' Ranch
    • Cowboys of Cauldron Valley
    • Everland Ever After
    • River's End Ranch
    • The Royal Wedding
    • Quinn Valley Ranch
    • Black Aces
    • Sunset Valley
    • The Sweet Cheyenne Quartet
    • The Alphabet Mail-Order Brides
    • The Twelve Days of Christmas Mail-Order Brides
    • Single-titles
    • ¿Lees en español?
  • Newsletter
  • Reading Order
  • Updates