Random Word Facts- The Tinker Really Was Swearing!

I'm such a geek.  This is getting addictive.  

After Michelle's comment about toeing (not towing) the line, I thought I'd add something about a tinker's dam.  I'd read something about how a tinker used a bit of clay to help him "flood with solder" the metal he was repairing.  The clay would be useless afterwards and so you have a useless dam. 

I remember laughing once when someone wrote about a "tinker's darn".

According to the folks at this website, however, tinkers were known for their cursing.  (My father always talked about cursing like a one-eyed carpenter.  He had to explain the whole one eye, no depth perception, mashed fingers part to me.)  Long before there was talk of a clay dam, there were expressions like "tinker's curse".   Apparently, tinkers had a wide and varied vocabulary after all.

Oh well.  I liked the "dam" story better- it gave you something to talk about.  

Random Word Facts

Am I the only one who discovers a word or phrase and loves it?  Instead of annoying only close friends and family, I now get to annoy the blogosphere as well.

Today's installment?

Short shrift.

I must say, I thought it was "short shift," as in the manager doesn't like you and schedules you, say, 30 hours a week instead of the full 40.  Kind of similar to the actual meaning of "curt dismissal."

Please don't laugh.

So, the archaic definition of "shrift" was (according to my awesome dictionary widget- bless you, Apple!) the penance imposed by a priest after confession.  The archaic expression of "short shrift" meant a short time between a judge's condemnation and punishment.  

There you have it!