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Monday 5 September 2016

I is for iron

You all know that iron is a metal, number 26 on the periodic table, with the symbol Fe, from Latin: ferrum. Magnets are attracted to iron, and vice versa. Such romance.

There's a landmark building in New York City, at 175 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, called the Flat Iron Building, so named because of "its resemblance to a cast-iron clothes iron."

Ironing. Now that's a task I never really got into. I'd probably be like that scene in the TV show Frasier with Niles Crane ironing. I've never had anything catch on fire, but I've scorched a few things in my time. Thank goodness for permanent press, which really isn't "permanent" but close enough.

I discovered this list of idioms with the word iron. One is to iron out. The first meaning is the obvious literal one, but the second is "to ease a problem; to smooth out a problem."

Having too many irons in the fire means "to be doing too many things at once." That describes me this particular week.

Iron is strong, so there are a few athletic references. Pumping iron is to lift weights. An iron man is "a man who is physically very strong and can work hard for a long time," thus the Ironman Thiathlon, which consists of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile (42.20 km) run, "raced in that order and without a break. It is widely considered one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world."

And, of course, those triathletes need plenty of iron in their diets. But they needn't have a cast-iron stomach, which is, figuratively speaking, "a very strong stomach that can withstand bad food or anything nauseating."

I hope you can iron out your schedule, and have the strength and endurance, to participate in this I week for ABC Wednesday.






13 comments:

  1. What an incredibly illustrative introduction to the week! Very idiomatic, too! *smile*

    Leslie
    abcw team

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  2. Fun shot!
    I don't have an "I" post to share this week but welcome you to join us at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2016/09/orchids-other-worldly.html

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  3. Nice post Roger, I've read it with a big smile.

    And I am glad that you use a saying which is very commonly used in The Netherlands as well, although in Dutch ofcourse ;-)

    So my advise to you would be, put some irons on ice for a while and the one called Roger in it on the most important place!

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  4. Incredible intro, Roger:) Thank you:)
    So, an eye for an I this week;) Cheers!

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  5. Ironing is not my favorite thing. I have scorched a few things in my lifetime, too, one being the back of my right hand when I was a little one.
    Great intro to the letter I!

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  6. Iron is a great word - thinking of cast iron, strong.

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  7. Intriguing introduction! Iron is incredibly interesting.
    My "I" stands for INDIA

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  8. Cool post. Has me wondering what came first: iron or irony?

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  9. http://olivegardenatwuhuanhui.blogspot.com/2016/09/short-story-slam-week-52-abc-wednesday.html

    well done.

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  10. http://sciencelearningis.blogspot.com/2016/09/short-story-slam-week-52.html

    powerful one.

    ReplyDelete