Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Kathy over at Bermudaonion's Weblog hosts Wondrous Words Wednesday. If you come across a word (or two) while reading that is new to you and would like to share your new knowledge, then hop over to Kathy's place and link up!

Here's what I've got this week from New Graves at Great Norne by Henry Wade (p. 220):

He found the room larger than he expected, but from the look of the furniture he guessed it was the only one in the house.  There was a bed, a deal table, a mangle, a dresser, a sink, and a small range with an open fire.

Deal table:  made of pine or fir wood/planks  (Etymology: Middle English dele, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, plank; akin to Old High German dili plank -- more at THILL)
1 a British : a board of fir or pine b : sawed yellow-pine lumber nine inches (22.5 centimeters) or wider and three, four, or five inches (7.6 to 12.4 centimeters) thick
2 : pine or fir wood (Merriam Webster Dictionary)

Mangle: A mangle (as it is called in the United Kingdom) or wringer (as it is called in the United States) is a mechanical laundry aid consisting of two rollers in a sturdy frame, connected by cogs and, in its home version, powered by a hand crank or electrically. While the appliance was originally used to wring water from wet laundry, today mangles are used to press or flatten sheets, tablecloths, kitchen towels, or clothing and other laundry. [from Wikipedia]

A Norahammars Bruk model 3005-2 mangle from 1934


6 comments:

Sherrie said...

Hi Bev,
Great word and find. Haven't heard of it. I've also finished another book for the Mount TBR challenge. I'm half way through my 12 books. Have a great day!

Sherrie
Just Books

Libby said...

I knew mangle from my grandmother(!) But, not deal table! This was an interesting post!

bermudaonion said...

I think I saw a mangle on a Martha Stewart program one time - that looks/sounds awfully familiar. Deal table is interesting - I'm not sure I can figure out what sets it apart from other tables besides its size.

Margaret @ BooksPlease said...

That looks so like the mangle my mother had. It was originally my granny's. I remember mum using it, when I was a small child, to wring out the sheets before she got a washing machine that spun the clothes - gosh this makes me feel ancient!

Gram said...

No matter what Wikipedia says, we call it a mangle too! Dee

Louise said...

I haven't come across deal table before either. I've seen mangle before- it's such a great word, and such a great usage.