To have (too) many irons in the fire "to be doing too much at once" is from 1549.
irons in the fire, matters with which one is immediately concerned; undertakings; projects: He had other irons in the fire, so that one failure would not destroy him.
"Don't have too many irons in the fire" is a saying of unknown origin but is believed to date back to the 1600's. Nowadays it means we shouldn't take on more than we can handle. It's original meaning, however, came straight from the blacksmith's shop where a blacksmith had to find a delicate balance of having enough irons in the forge to keep him busy without putting in too many.
If there were too few irons in the fire, the blacksmith would have to wait for some to heat up and couldn't stay constantly busy. If he had too many, he couldn't keep up with them and he would be labeled inefficient. Having just the right amount of irons in the fire was the sign of a good blacksmith and allowed the smithy to keep up a steady pace of work.
Source:
Heavens to Betsy by Charles Earle Funk, Harper & Row, New York, 1955
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In the “olde days”, before blacksmiths had thermometers, they found that the color of the iron changes with the temperature. It starts out with “black” heat (about 800 degrees F, and plenty hot enough to burn yourself on), and progresses through the color spectrum of blue-purple-red-orange-yellow & tops out at “white” welding heat (+2000 degrees F, just before it burns up). At the right temperature, metal becomes very pliable (about 1,300 degrees F, orange-yellow).
When you’re working on metal (iron/steel) in a forge, basically, you put the cold metal rods into the forge fire, and wait for them to heat up to a pliable temperature. Then, …“strike while the iron is hot.” (Another tried-and-true blacksmithing proverb.)
If you try to work the metal at a lower temperature, you end up having to pound twice as hard, to get half as much work done. On the other hand, if you let the metal get too hot, … it will simply melt and/or disintegrate.
This adage is aptly evident these days, referring to the overloading of our schedules with way too much stuff to be able to finish in the first place. We start out our days with “aspirations of grandeur”, sure we can accomplish super human tasks, If we just keep moving, … we’ll get it all done!
Author:
B. MacNichol is the award winning, premier poet of the “frameable greeting card” line - N OTHER WORDS , whose background includes Senior Engineering, Master Drafting, Journeyman Blacksmithing, and Farriery (horseshoeing). While spending her formative years in Missouri, she currently resides in the mountains of North Georgia, and is pursuing a professional writing career. To view
additional samples of her work, please link to http://www.notherwords.com
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irons in the fire, matters with which one is immediately concerned; undertakings; projects: He had other irons in the fire, so that one failure would not destroy him.
"Don't have too many irons in the fire" is a saying of unknown origin but is believed to date back to the 1600's. Nowadays it means we shouldn't take on more than we can handle. It's original meaning, however, came straight from the blacksmith's shop where a blacksmith had to find a delicate balance of having enough irons in the forge to keep him busy without putting in too many.
If there were too few irons in the fire, the blacksmith would have to wait for some to heat up and couldn't stay constantly busy. If he had too many, he couldn't keep up with them and he would be labeled inefficient. Having just the right amount of irons in the fire was the sign of a good blacksmith and allowed the smithy to keep up a steady pace of work.
Source:
Heavens to Betsy by Charles Earle Funk, Harper & Row, New York, 1955
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In the “olde days”, before blacksmiths had thermometers, they found that the color of the iron changes with the temperature. It starts out with “black” heat (about 800 degrees F, and plenty hot enough to burn yourself on), and progresses through the color spectrum of blue-purple-red-orange-yellow & tops out at “white” welding heat (+2000 degrees F, just before it burns up). At the right temperature, metal becomes very pliable (about 1,300 degrees F, orange-yellow).
When you’re working on metal (iron/steel) in a forge, basically, you put the cold metal rods into the forge fire, and wait for them to heat up to a pliable temperature. Then, …“strike while the iron is hot.” (Another tried-and-true blacksmithing proverb.)
If you try to work the metal at a lower temperature, you end up having to pound twice as hard, to get half as much work done. On the other hand, if you let the metal get too hot, … it will simply melt and/or disintegrate.
This adage is aptly evident these days, referring to the overloading of our schedules with way too much stuff to be able to finish in the first place. We start out our days with “aspirations of grandeur”, sure we can accomplish super human tasks, If we just keep moving, … we’ll get it all done!
Author:
B. MacNichol is the award winning, premier poet of the “frameable greeting card” line - N OTHER WORDS , whose background includes Senior Engineering, Master Drafting, Journeyman Blacksmithing, and Farriery (horseshoeing). While spending her formative years in Missouri, she currently resides in the mountains of North Georgia, and is pursuing a professional writing career. To view
additional samples of her work, please link to http://www.notherwords.com
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An alternative explanation for the origin of 'irons in the fire' relates to the battlefield surgeon, from at least medieval times, who kept a fire going with a number of different cauterising irons in it at all times. The irons were used to cauterise wounds and stop people bleeding to death. A surgeon with many irons in the fire was prepared to treat any size or shape of wound.
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