http://www.word-detective.com/2011/07/cockeyed/ Semper Ubi Sub Ubi Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:32:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.word-detective.com/2011/07/cockeyed/comment-page-1/#comment-55767 Bill Sat, 16 Feb 2013 20:20:13 +0000 http://www.word-detective.com/?p=5299#comment-55767 I just did a tour of a grist mill, and aparently 'cock eyed' comes from a miller. There is a pin im the middle of a mill stone upon which the top grimd stone sits. This pin is called the cock. The upper grind stone rests on this pin at a divot in the bale which supports the weight of the stone. This divot is called the eye. In order for a mill and its grindstone to work properly, the upper grindston must be perfectly ballanced so that it spins on the cock without any wobble. If it wobbles, it will create sparks and ruin the wheet or corn being ground. So a grind stone must be 'cock-eyed' in order to work properly. A miller needs to keep their 'nose to the grindstone' in order to tell if their stone is burning the grain or corn, because it is a very apparent smell. I just did a tour of a grist mill, and aparently ‘cock eyed’ comes from a miller. There is a pin im the middle of a mill stone upon which the top grimd stone sits. This pin is called the cock. The upper grind stone rests on this pin at a divot in the bale which supports the weight of the stone. This divot is called the eye. In order for a mill and its grindstone to work properly, the upper grindston must be perfectly ballanced so that it spins on the cock without any wobble. If it wobbles, it will create sparks and ruin the wheet or corn being ground. So a grind stone must be ‘cock-eyed’ in order to work properly. A miller needs to keep their ‘nose to the grindstone’ in order to tell if their stone is burning the grain or corn, because it is a very apparent smell.

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