"pins & needles"?

[sagehen]

David Bergdahl writes:
>Nope--heard it all my life (I grew up in the 40s and 50s on suburban LI)
>
>--On Thursday, October 10, 2002 8:52 AM -0400 sagehen
><sagehen at WESTELCOM.COM> wrote:
>
>> In describing the state of alarm & nervous expectation experienced by
>> people in the D.C. area because of the recent sniper shootings, a reporter
>> on NPR this morning used the expression  "on pins & needles" where I'd
>> have expected "on tenterhooks."  Anyone else find this odd?
>> A. Murie
  ~~~~~~~
I wasn't questioning the viability of "pins & needles" (usually occurring
in reference to restoration of feeling after numbing, for instance), just
this particular context.
AM