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TODAY'S WORD/PHRASE

PIG-IRON:

During melting iron runs off into a channel called a sow.  Its branches are called 

pigs; here the iron cools and is therefore called pig-iron.  The word 'sow' used 

here has no connection with swine but comes from a Saxon word meaning to 

'scatter'.  A mere play on the word 'sow' has served to produce the word pig-

ron.  Having sows or sow for the parent channel, it required no great effort of wit 

to make the lateral grooves little pigs.

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