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Miscellaneous

Where does the expression dead as a doornail come from?

From Grammerist: The phrase dead as a doornail comes from securing doornails that were hammered into a door by clenching them. Clenching is bending over the protruding end of the nail and hammering it into the wood. When a nail has been clenched, it has been dead nailed and cannot be used again.

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