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Henry74 Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary
Household industries, small hardware
Hello,
I was looking up the word 'notions' (in sewing), and I was led to this entry from the New Hampshire's History Blog:
- Yankee notions: goods made in New England, made widely known by traveling Yankee peddlers. These items included (but were not limited to) pins, buttons, scissors, small hardware, tin ware, minor trinkets, knick-knacks, household industries, nails, etc.
I haven't found this use of 'industries' in the dictionary, could you please clarify it for me?
As for 'small hardware', the dictionary has (under 'hardware'): things (such as tools or parts of machines) that are made of metal.
Would you consider, say, spare parts for a stove or a sewing machine as 'small hardware'?
Does the word 'software' also have a pre-computer era meaning? Would you call, say, fabric software?
Thank you for your help
H.
I was looking up the word 'notions' (in sewing), and I was led to this entry from the New Hampshire's History Blog:
- Yankee notions: goods made in New England, made widely known by traveling Yankee peddlers. These items included (but were not limited to) pins, buttons, scissors, small hardware, tin ware, minor trinkets, knick-knacks, household industries, nails, etc.
I haven't found this use of 'industries' in the dictionary, could you please clarify it for me?
As for 'small hardware', the dictionary has (under 'hardware'): things (such as tools or parts of machines) that are made of metal.
Would you consider, say, spare parts for a stove or a sewing machine as 'small hardware'?
Does the word 'software' also have a pre-computer era meaning? Would you call, say, fabric software?
Thank you for your help
H.
Top answer
Henry74 , small hardware, It might refer to small tools, such as pliers, hammers, ***** drivers and tacks, nails, and screws. That is small, portable things needed for household repairs. Sewing machines were not invented until the late 1800s.
- Henry74 , small hardware, It might refer to small tools, such as pliers, hammers, ***** drivers and tacks, nails, and screws.
- That is small, portable things needed for household repairs.
- Sewing machines were not invented until the late 1800s.
- The Yankee peddlers has largely disappeared by then.
- "software" was coined in the computer age.
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6 Answers
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Henry74, small hardware,It might refer to small tools, such as pliers, hammers, ***** drivers and tacks, nails, and screws. That is small, portable things needed for household repairs.
Sewing machines were not invented until the late 1800s. The Yankee peddlers has largely disappeared by then.
"software" was coined in the computer age. An e
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Henry74I haven't found this use of 'industries' in the dictionary, could you please clarify it for me?I suppose it refers to 'cottage industries': http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cottage%20industry
Henry74Would you consi
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Thank you AS and MrM.
About 'household/cottage industries', the dictionary definition for 'cottage industry' only refers to a system for making products, thus the plural should refer to many such systems. Because the list in the definition I quoted is a list of items, it seems to me that 'industries' might be used there to refer to the products of such industry.
Although not listed in
About 'household/cottage industries', the dictionary definition for 'cottage industry' only refers to a system for making products, thus the plural should refer to many such systems. Because the list in the definition I quoted is a list of items, it seems to me that 'industries' might be used there to refer to the products of such industry.
Although not listed in
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To me, the blogger misused the term "cottage industry." These were very common; families (usually the mother) would produce home made goods to sell, such as jams, canned vegetables, toys, clothing, etc.
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I believe a very old sense (17th century or older) of the word "industry," was an item made by hand in the home. Similarly, the word "hardware" in old usage also meant an item made by hand in the home. Furthermore, these might have been regionalisms and might not be covered in any modern dictionary.
The word "software" was never used in the sense of cloth. This is a modern term coined
The word "software" was never used in the sense of cloth. This is a modern term coined
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