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Winging It, Part 4

Posted by John and Janet Ruiz on August 22, 2009 at 9:00am
Reading through the many illuminating Blog posts here I ran across the word "wingnut" and did one of those "searches" on Google to find a little bit about the meaning of the word. I know what a wingnut is but in the context I read it I realized that while I thought I understood the intended meaning it might do well to do some checking.I like words, the way they're used, how they sound in English, since that's pretty much what I speak, or the American version of it. See - right there, "English" - one word, many meanings. But words are, y'know, like cool and stuff. It's always fun to read up on a specific word or phrase and find out where it came from and what it means or could mean depending on usage.So - wingnut. First off I have to say I've always liked wingnuts and when used appropriately - nothing beats a wingnut. Wingnuts rock, they're easy to use and for applications where you have some space to work in and a reasonably tight and non-permanent hold is required they're great. I'm sure we have some knowledable trades peoples and crafts persons on this site who could elaborate on proper usage, code requirements, etc. etc. and that would be great to know if anyone has the mind and a minute to spare. (the minute for posting - keep your mind right where it is please!)As a means of fastening or holding a thing or two things together, a nut and a bolt are pretty nifty fasteners. (Does make me wonder though about the fastening and bolting using nuts, but that's a whole 'nother deal) But nuts require a tool of some sort - a "wrench" let's say for general purposes - another word that requires some contextual definition to be sure, but yeah, give that nut a good wrench with the right sized tool and you can get 'er fastened down pretty snug.A wingnut however can be turned and tightened by hand because it has two little "wings" - actually they look kind of like cartoon mouse ears to me, but they're pieces of the nut that protude out on each side opposite each other. So if you have some space to work with again, wingnuts are great. No tools required other than the hands God gave you. Tighten that bad boy down, maybe use a washer or two ("washer?") and you've got some fine fastening going on.Interestingly there's a family of nuts that grow on trees (think I have that right) that are referred to as Wingnuts, but they're not good fasteners, far as I know.People are also referred to as "wingnuts" at times, usually in a critical context. I think that's a fairly modern use, again, far as I know. I don't quite get the connection, although I think this usage may rely heavily on the sound of the word - "wingnut" sounds funnier to me, more humorous that is, than just "nut". Dunno, it just has a ring to it although the actual use doesn't make sense (to me anyway) but then - we do use a lot of words for which the various meanings don't seem to make any sense at all if I try to match them up. LIke "Match" - light a fire, find two alike, or two in a competition. Weird. "Light a match" - "find a match" - what's that really mean, really?But anyway - the wingnut thing caught my eye and so now, this. Gotta go. Have great weekends, all! Or week starters! Or just great days, hours, minutes, times, events, lives and everything involved! I know you know what I mean!
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