ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 1997 TAG: 9703120098
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON/THE ROANOKE TIMES
Milling gave rise to three figures of speech still in common use today, according to Theodore Hazen of Explore Park.
When someone asks, How are you? and the reply is "fair to middling," the speaker is borrowing terminology for grades of grain from a mill. Fair is fine grade. Middling is the least desirable and coarsest grade, often used by the poor. Thus, "fair to middling," has come to mean "so-so."
When you miss the postman, forget to add fabric softener to the washing machine or eat a shrimp tail, someone may say, "it's water under the bridge." This comes from the notion that, when a mill is idle the miller diverts the stream that normally powers the mill's wheel. The water runs past the mill; the opportunity to use its energy is gone forever.
Finally, a dad coaching a boy's football team might tell the team, "I'm going to test your mettle" or "show me your mettle," to psych the youngsters up. This phrase for referring to one's character and ability comes from the arm and hand injuries workers suffered in the upkeep of millstones, a process of perfecting rock grooves with iron hand tools.
A mill owner, before hiring a millstone worker, called a dresser, would ask the worker to show his metal - by raising his forearms - for the miller to check for the wounds which were a sign of a worker's experience. If the worker showed the often blue scars of iron fragments in the skin, he had "metal," also spelled "mettle," and was hired.
LENGTH: Short : 34 linesby CNB