Donate SIGN UP

On Tenterhooks - Antiques Road Show Version........

Avatar Image
10ClarionSt | 20:40 Sun 03rd Mar 2019 | ChatterBank
14 Answers
.........not quite correct, as I understand it. Fiona Bruce said that woven cloth was hooked onto tenter frames to dry out, but as it was in the open, it was vulnerable to theives, so the owners were waiting on tenterhooks. The version I was brought up with and in the textile industry, was that wet, finished cloth was stretched extremely tight to the tenter frame with hooks to prevent the cloth from shrinking whilst drying, and so to be on tenetrhooks was to be extrememly tense. The bit about the thieves seems to be a little bit of theatre from the Beeb.
Gravatar

Answers

1 to 14 of 14rss feed

Best Answer

No best answer has yet been selected by 10ClarionSt. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.

For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
day-light robbery?
Some might say money for old rope.
DT daylight robbery is a different thing altogether - we grew up learning this version, i c&p
In order to avoid the tax, house owners would brick up all windows except six. (The Window Tax lasted until around 1851, and older houses with bricked-up windows are still a common sight in UK.) As the bricked-up windows prevented some rooms from receiving any sunlight, the tax was referred to as daylight robbery.
not much different to that Halifax palace tonight, ducksie, all the windows on the inside and none on the outside - it probably doubled as the local nick....
Palace?
That was the Piece Hall, a cloth market.
Tha shud see t' palace, reet grand...
Piece Hall is very impressive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piece_Hall
aye oop, whatevver, it made dosh an gold - it's palace or its a bleedin mosk.
seriously, never seen it and it did look very impressive.

Put four minarets and a khabba in there and the locals could make a fortune.
Question Author
Mmmm. Seems to have drifted away from my OP, somewhat. I'll put it down as an age thing. :o)
Brewers agrees with 10 cs's version.
Phew! That's a relief. :-)
Fiona Bruce can do no wrong.
Your version makes much more sense (to me) 10c
If the lovely Fiona is wrong, then I blame the people around her.

1 to 14 of 14rss feed

Do you know the answer?

On Tenterhooks - Antiques Road Show Version........

Answer Question >>

Related Questions

Sorry, we can't find any related questions. Try using the search bar at the top of the page to search for some keywords, or choose a topic and submit your own question.