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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Yeah, I'm familiar with the nautical thole pins, but I think a scythe might have a thole, too...
Lemme go check onelook...
Edit: Actually, now that I think about it, 'thole pin' is kinda like saying 'pin pin'--but anyway, look down the definition of 'thole' to where pin is used as a definition--I expect that the scythe probably has a pin on it that was referred to it as the 'thole'--but I'll keep on onelooking...
Function: noun Etymology: Middle English tholle, from Old English thol; akin to Old Norse thollr fir tree, peg, Greek tylos knob, callus Date: before 12th century 1 : either of a pair of pins set in the gunwale of a boat to hold an oar in place 2 : PEG, PIN
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Bingo! Found it, wwh. The thole is a part of your snath--check out this definition of thole off of dictionary.com via onelook.com:
2. The pin, or handle, of a scythe snath.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
"fulcrum" is another dandy word. There is an old chestnut about Archimedes saying that he could move the earth if given a fulcrum and a place to stand. There was an interesting article about the Greek naval victory at Salamis in Scientific American a couple years ago. The Greeks had a very advanced technical device which gave their rowers a longer, more powerful stroke. So secret that a playwright was threatened when he made a sly allusion to it in a play. It consisted of a wax pad rower sat on, and straps across his feet, so his butt could pe pushed backward, as in modern sculling. Modern seats are on rollers or tiny wheels.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
More about these later--my computer's kicking me off here at school when I go to onelook.com, for some reason.
I think it's funny that we have alcoholic drinks named "screwdriver" and "gimlet"--we ought to create one called the "Sickle and the Scythe"--wonder what we'd put into it?
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
called the "Sickle and the Scythe"--wonder what we'd put into it?
Beer, I should think - it sounds like a pub name.
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