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A section for all you budding etymologists where each week the origin of a word or phrase is investigated.
blue-purple-red-orange-yellow and tops out at “white”
This week it is..... Too many irons in the fire
welding heat (+2000 degrees F, just before it burns up).
Try to do too much at once
This is a phrase that came into common usage in the 16th At the right temperature, metal becomes very pliable
century in England. Its origin is relatively undisputed, (about 1,300 degrees F, orange-yellow).
although there are two variations that derive from the When you’re working on metal (iron/steel) in a forge,
basically, you put the cold metal rods into the forge fire,
same kind of activity.
The lesser of these, as in the least likely true origin, and wait for them to heat up to a pliable temperature.
relates to the battlefield surgeon, from at least medieval Then, …“strike while the iron is hot.” (Another triedtimes, who kept a fire going with a number of different and-true blacksmithing proverb.)
cauterising irons in it at all times. The irons were used If you try to work the metal at a lower temperature, you
to cauterise wounds and stop people bleeding to death. end up having to pound twice as hard, to get half as
A surgeon with many irons in the fire was prepared to much work done. On the other hand, if you let the metal
get too hot, … it will simply melt and/or disintegrate.
treat any size or shape of wound.
The reason for the doubt for this being the origin is This adage is aptly evident these days, referring to the
simply that the full phrase most commonly used was overloading of our schedules with way too much stuff to
and is “Don’t have too many irons in the fire”, and you be able to finish in the first place. We start out our days
would hardly think of saying this to a surgeon who may with “aspirations of grandeur”, sure we can accomplish
well need more than less irons in the fire in a particularly super human tasks, If we just keep moving, … we’ll get
it all done! This attitude is also reflected in another more
nasty battle.
While there is little documented evidence for the origin, modern phrase, “spreading yourself too thin”.
the etymology of this phrase is generally accepted to The phrase has inevitably had some variations added,
have come straight from the blacksmith’s shop, where and nowadays people will more often say that they have
a blacksmith had to find a delicate balance of having ‘other irons in the fire’ or ‘more irons in the fire’ than the
enough irons in the forge to keep him busy without original ‘too many irons in the fire’. It is rare indeed to
even find a blacksmith now when once every hamlet,
putting in too many.
If there were too few irons in the fire, the blacksmith village or town had one, hence the frequency of the
would have to wait for some to heat up and couldn’t stay surname ‘Smith’ in the English speaking world.
constantly busy. If he had too many, he couldn’t keep up
with them and he would be labeled inefficient. Having
just the right amount of irons in the fire was the sign of Is there an English phrase or saying that you would
a good blacksmith and allowed the smithy to keep up a like to know more about?
Email it to us on [email protected]
steady pace of work.
In the “olde days”, before blacksmiths had thermometers,
they found that the colour of the iron changes with
the temperature. It starts out with “black” heat (about
800 degrees F, and plenty hot enough to burn yourself
on), and progresses through the colour spectrum of
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