EXPLANATION OF AN OLD SAYING.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2108, 7 October 1890, Page 4

EXPLANATION OF AN OLD SAYING.

It is a very common expression in referring to a lazy man at work that he “ ■would never set the Thames on fire.” In an English paper, in reply to a question as to the meaning of the expreseion, a correspondent sends the following answer : “ In the time of our forefathers, the. corn was ground with an instrument called a ‘ temse.’ It

was merely a stone hollowed out to receive the corn, which, rapidly turned, ground the corn to flour. If' the wooden handle was turned with sufficient force, the friction* of the wood against the stone would cause, ;th©, stick t® catch fire; but as it required considerable energy to produce this effect, 4he person who 'could accomplish it was reckoned smart, and h|o who could ' set the tem«e ’ bn fire 5 wa's pretty sure to be good worker in other ways- ’ After 1 ! a time thjs ‘ temse ’ was superseded by better' machinery, but the expression slid remains in our language; only, as the * temse’ is now in unknown instrument!, the spelling has become corrupted into * Thames,’ though in reality it ha's nothing to do with the river Thames.!”