"turpentine cut" query

Mark A Mandel mam at THEWORLD.COM
Mon Feb 11 04:03:54 UTC 2002


        [Gerald Cohen]
#>    A colleague has asked me about "turpentine cut"--it's a carpentry term
#> meaning a sloppy joining of two boards.

        [Douglas G. Wilson]
#I think a turpentine cut SHOULD be a cut made in a [pine, etc.] tree for
#collection of turpentine. I speculate that the above sense is metaphoric,
#referring to a ragged slot or so. I can't find an example of this usage
#immediately.

I am no carpenter, even as an amateur, so the following may not be
reasonable. I thought on reading Gerald's question that perhaps a sloppy
joining would, under some circumstances, "bleed" resin from what should
be a tight junction.

-- Mark A. Mandel
   Linguist at Large



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