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

10ClarionSt | 21:40 Sun 03rd Mar 2019 | ChatterBank

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.........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.

Well It's Not Me!

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DTCwordfan

day-light robbery?

douglas9401

Some might say money for old rope.

ducksie

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.

DTCwordfan

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....