A.Word.A.Day --chalk line

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Mar 31, 2025

This week’s theme
Tools and devices that became metaphors

This week’s words
chalk line
ratchet
parish pump

Gif: Keson

Previous week’s theme
There’s a word for it

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Having a tool is like having a superpower in your pocket. With the right gadget, you can do much more than what arms and legs alone allow -- build a magnificent pyramid, lift water from deep below, or even predict whether you’ll need an umbrella tomorrow.

And not all tools need wires, batteries, or instruction manuals. Sometimes, a simple device can save labor -- a lever, a pulley, a piece of string dusted with chalk -- can save hours of sweat and toil.

This week we’re spotlighting tools that didn’t just stay in the toolbox. They leveled up and became metaphors. These handy expressions help us build meaning, draw lines, and cut through confusion.

What’s your favorite tool or device? Do you carry a screwdriver, a multi-tool, or something else that makes you feel ready for anything, MacGyver style? Share below or email us at words@wordsmith.org. Don’t forget to include your location (city, state).

chalk line

PRONUNCIATION:

(CHAWK lyn)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A standard of proper behavior.
2. A line made with chalk or a similar substance.

ETYMOLOGY:

From chalk, from Old English cealc, from Latin calx (lime) + line, from Old French ligne (line), from Latin linum (flax). Earliest documented use: 1450.

NOTES:

Builders and carpenters use a tool called chalk line. It has a reel with a chalk-coated string, which when stretched tight and snapped leaves a straight line across a surface.

USAGE:

“‘They were tough, but they were fair. In other words, they made us walk the chalk line. But it did not hurt us one bit. We learned,’ Kissell said.”
Dillon Carr; Former Educators, Students Say Goodbye to St. Florian School; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Pennsylvania); Feb 20, 2017.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world. -Leo Buscaglia, author, speaker, and professor (31 Mar 1924-1998)

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