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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Originally this referred to the reins of four horses pulling
a coach. Then it was transferred,perhaps humorously, to the original bow-tie, I believe. Correction welcomed.
O.Henry is describing attire of a bum hoping to get arrested and sent to jail to have warm winter quarters.
"Soapy had confidence in himself from the lowest button of his vest upward. He was shaven, and his coat was decent and his neat black, ready-tied four-in-hand had been presented to him by a lady missionary on Thanksgiving Day. "
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I don't understand all this because my visual imaginative capacity won't see this:
four-in-hand:
"a necktie cut on the bias and often made with a lining and tied in a slipknot so that the long flared ends overlap vertically in front" (Merriam-Webster)
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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because the style of knotting the tie.... the simplest 'knot' is similar to the knot used to tie 'four in hand' reins..
its a way of saying 'he tried to dress up, and look like a gentleman, but he really didn't know how to tie a tie, so he knotted round his neck with the only knot he knew, the same one used to tie up horses reins'... all with teh simple expression of 'four in hand'
(think of the term floods applied to clothes..
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In reply to:
(think of the term floods applied to clothes..
of troy, from where did you pull the term 'floods'? I checked the thread throughout and couldn't find it.
Also, many thanks for the connection between the four-in-hands knot used by the horse drivers and the type of knot itself. I looked through several illustrations on Google showing how to tie the knot, but couldn't see why the knot would be four-in-hand at any point in the knot making!  The knot in the reins is a crystal clear connection! And a practical solution for the driver!
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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That "four-in-hand" doesn't seem to have any logic in the
name. And it looks like what used to be called a "Windsor" knot. Maybe after Eddie VIII. It's easy to do, and makes a symmetrial knot: Holding short end in left hand, long end goes once around the short end, then once around the long end, then once around both ends and down the middle in front.
Only a fool wears that kind of tie in a psychiatric hospital, where a patient could use it to strangle you.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Well, wwh, I thought of troy made it pretty clear that this four-in-hand knot strongly resembled the knot used in the reins of the four-in-hand driver.
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear WW: I just have trouble thinking any man would wear
a horse collar.
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Oh, you're being silly, wwh!
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