Colloquialisms with Textile Origins

Some colloquialisms are based on their connection to textiles...

© Neosnaps used with permission of Creative Commons licensing

Distaff side means the woman's side of a family.  A distaff is an implement used during the spinning process to hold fibers.  Since spinning was identified with women, the term came to stand for women's work, and by extension, the female branch of the family.

© Simon Greig used with permission of Creative Commons licensing

Dyed-in-the-wool means thoroughgoing or deeply ingrained.  Wool is more thoroughly colored if it's dyed before it's spun or woven.

© Erich Ferdinand used with permission of Creative Commons licensing

To get down to brass tacks means to be precise or specific.  Dry goods stores used to have a line of brass tacks on the counter, against which cloth was measured.

© Marlana Shipley used with permission of Creative Commons licensing

To get one's hackles up implies one is in a bad temper or on the offensive.  When the fur on a dog's back stands up, that's a hackle and it's not a good sign.  A hackle is a large comb with iron teeth that stand straight up, used to align flax fiber before spinning.

© Ruth Temple used with permission of Creative Commons licensing

An heirloom is an object passed on to one's heirs.  Looms were once so valuable that they were bequeathed to the next generation.

© Tim Green used with permission of Creative Commons licensing

Shoddy means poor quality.  Shoddy was cloth made from unraveled and rewoven old fibers that didn't hold up well.

© Boston Public Library used with permission of Creative Commons licensing

Sleazy means distasteful or of low character.  It comes from Silesia cloth, a poor quality linen made in Silesia (located mostly in Poland).

© Lewis Wickes Hine used with permission of Creative Commons licensing

To cotton to, meaning to be attracted to, comes from the electrically charged lint in the air in cotton weaving mills.

© rs snaps used with permission of Creative Commons licensing

To tie up loose ends is to complete all the details of a task.  This phrase comes from sailing ships - the ends of the ropes used in a ship's rigging had to be tightly bound to prevent fraying.