Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail.
The Stars Hollow Gazette/DocuDharma Digest
Friday 12/21
* On This Day In History December 21 by: TheMomCat
* The Five Austerities of Obama by: ek hornbeck
* Punting the Pundits by: TheMomCat
* A Conservative Judge Makes the Case for Gun Control by: TheMomCat
* End of the World Menu- Part Two by: ek hornbeck
* Popular Culture 20121221: Christmas Songs by: Translator
Saturday 12/22
* On This Day In History December 22 by: TheMomCat
* D-Day Has Left the Room by: TheMomCat
* Punting the Pundits by: TheMomCat
* Health and Fitness News by: TheMomCat
* LIBOR Part 1 by: ek hornbeck
* My Little Town 20121219: Christmas Trees by: Translator
Sunday 12/23
* Six In The Morning by: mishima
* Punting the Pundits: Sunday Preview Edition by: TheMomCat
* What We Now Know by: TheMomCat
* On This Day In History December 23 by: TheMomCat
* What's Cooking: Sugarplum Bread by: TheMomCat
* Rant of the Week: Lawrence O'Donnell by: TheMomCat
Monday 12/24
* Henri Le Chat Noir: The Worst Noël by: TheMomCat
* Cranberry Canes by: ek hornbeck
* On This Day In History December 24 by: TheMomCat
* Thoroughly Modern Meatless Mince Pie by: TheMomCat
* Punting the Pundits by: TheMomCat
* The 12 Awkward Days of Xmas by: TheMomCat
* Christmas Eve/ Sarajevo by: TheMomCat
* Marley was dead. by: ek hornbeck
The Stars Hollow Gazette
Friday 12/21
* Late Night Karaoke by: mishima
* Muse in the Morning by: Robyn
* On This Day In History December 21 by: TheMomCat
* The Great Prevaricator by: TheMomCat
* Cartnoon by: ek hornbeck
* Armando, you ignorant slut. by: Compound F
* If the right to life right is not respected, the others lack meaning. by: Robyn
* End of the World Menu- Part Two by: ek hornbeck
* Popular Culture 20121221: Christmas Songs by: Translator
Saturday 12/22
* On This Day In History December 22 by: TheMomCat
* The Five Austerities of Obama by: ek hornbeck
* Cartnoon by: ek hornbeck
* Health and Fitness News by: TheMomCat
* A Conservative Judge Makes the Case for Gun Control by: TheMomCat
* My Little Town 20121219: Christmas Trees by: Translator
Sunday 12/23
* Six In The Morning by: mishima
* On This Day In History December 23 by: TheMomCat
* What We Now Know by: TheMomCat
* Cartnoon by: ek hornbeck
* D-Day Has Left the Room by: TheMomCat
* Thoroughly Modern Meatless Mince Pie by: TheMomCat
Monday 12/24
* Henri Le Chat Noir: The Worst Noël by: TheMomCat
* Muse in the Morning by: Robyn
* On This Day In History December 24 by: TheMomCat
* Cranberry Canes by: ek hornbeck
* The 12 Awkward Days of Xmas by: TheMomCat
* booman's Christmas ass-kicking by: Compound F
* What's Cooking: Sugarplum Bread by: TheMomCat
* Marley was dead. by: ek hornbeck
DocuDharma
Dead As A Door Nail
By: Mark Clement, Contributing Writer, This Old House
So why is a door nail dead anyway?
Actually, it’s kind of a cool story.
One is said to be “dead as a door nail” because when doors were built of nailed together planks the carpenters pounded the nail through then bent it over on the other side. This is called “clench-nailing” and its one heck of a way to make a nail hold fast.
But why is it dead? Well, one story has it that if the house ever burned down–a pretty common occurrence in days before organized fire departments–the homeowners could salvage all kinds of stuff like earthenware, steel bowls, dishes, utensils. And nails. But because the door nails were clenched, or bent over, they couldn’t be re-used.
Door nails, dead but not deceased.
Hence, dead.
What am I watching?