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The plan:
Sit down with my laptop, taking into account the sunlit balcony and flagons of tea, then prepare #48 for posting, #49 for final editing, #50 for filling out the story outlines into the first draft
The actuality:
Get dragged off to IKEA, buy furniture for the balcony a little less sizable than the bulky 12 year-old table we have been using, spend hours opening cardboard boxes and then screwing, banging and erecting.
So!
Was I:
- IKEAd?
- Flat-packed?
- Swedish ambushed?
Or is there a better verb for this?
Cheers
Joolz
Comments
You were hijacked, and forced
You were hijacked, and forced to go a-viking.
I can't say shanghaied, because their stuff isn't made in China.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Hijacked...
…or pressed into service. Though that is usually British, it isn’t necessarily so, and a determined SO easily makes a press gang of one! :D
"... and then screwing,
"... and then screwing, banging and erecting" - so maybe screwbangerred.
Due to the everusable tool....
GinnieG
Re Forced Diversion to IKEA and new verb suggestions
First of all, IKEA are since some years now Dutch not Swedish ( for tax reasons I am told ),
These days I would be surprised if some of its wares are NOT "made in China", because nearly everything we all buy is made in China these days, even if it does not say so on the label. Before the Wall came down, a lot of their wares were made in EAST GERMANY (aka the DDR ), after that they started to order goods from Poland and other Eastern European countries. Anything made of wood at least was imported, since the Swedes have used up most of their forests and in the Northern climate it takes well over 50 years for trees to grow enough to be harvested. A long new railway line was built to go from southern Sweden through northern Finland and then round into Russia, so that timber from Russia can be imported. The excavations, bridges and tunnels for it were being made when I was spending my summers in my house in Vesternorrland, close to the High Coast area, that I had to give up some 5 years ago.
The IKEA ubiquitous tool the Allen Key gave me the idea for the Verb, to allenkey some one, meaning to keep them busy screwing flat-pack furnishings together with an Allen Key.
Hope this helps.
Briar
A very large amount of the
A very large amount of the wooden furniture is made in Canada now.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
What's in a name?
What was once called an Allen Key is now more commonly known by the generic, non-proprietary term, “hex(agonal) wrench.” This suggests the possible verb “to hex-wrench,” meaning to cast a hex upon someone that wrenches them out of their usual mode of activity and presses them into shopping for and then assembling flat-pack furnishings.
Allen wrench (Hex)
Allen wrench (Hex)
Torx screwdriver (star)
Phillips screwdriver (cross)
Robertson screw (sometimes Scrulox) (Square drive)
People are dumb. 'Square drive' is a robertson. That's the name of the guy that patented it in Canada in 1909. I had those in a futon in the mid to late 90's, and had to get my screwdriver from Canadian Tire, because nobody in the US had them. Now? You -still- can't get one. People look at you dumbly, because chinese companies hired by hardware stores seem to be incapable of using the names of things. They just describe them. (often badly, but we won't go into the engrish)
(The interesting part? The Robertson predates Phillips by 28 years. It just didn't spread as easily, because Robertson refused to give anyone exclusive rights, and wouldn't license to other fastener manufacturers. The Model A had them, as did lots of others)
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.