Cutting Didoes

[Mark A Mandel]

On Wed, 16 Oct 2002, Scott Swanson wrote:

#On Wed, 16 Oct 2002, Mark A Mandel wrote:
#
#>> I would have pictured a
#>> #carpenter cutting fancy curlicues, the sense then extended to a pilot
#>> #making fancy loops. But I don't recall whether I ever really saw this
#>> #etymology asserted (even if I did, it might not have any truth).
#
#> I thought of that too, but I'm pretty sure that's "dado".
#
#Actually, a "dado", at least in the context of carpentry, refers to a
#straight wide groove cut into the wood. Nothing fancy about it.

Ah, but you see, I never knew what "dado" actually meant. I saw it in
reference to decorative woodwork and assumed it was decorative. Then the
situation with "cutting didoes" was similar enough to create a false
association. And similarly, I guess, for the person I was responding to.

-- Mark A. Mandel