Klarinet Archive - Posting 000417.txt from 2005/04

From: ormo2ndtoby@-----.net (Ormondtoby Montoya)
Subj: [kl] Tenter hook
Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 23:18:55 -0400

Wes=A0Kilpatrick wrote:

> Okay I understand what you mean but what is
> a tenterhook?

My dictionary says that, in the old days, cloth was produced by a wet
milling process. In order to reduce shrinkage and distortion while the
cloth dried, it was stretched tight and held on a framework by hooks.
The frame was called a "tenter". Hence being on "tenter hooks"
suggests being stretched tight (nervous, anxious) and being unable to do
much about it except wait.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org