Slab
Someone asked where
Traverse City’s Slabtown got its name. Located at the west end of Front Street,
it was once populated by mill workers who built houses for themselves out of
wood scraps taken from the sawmills. The flat, broad, and comparatively thick
pieces of wood were called slabs.
The Oxford English
Dictionary opts for obscure origin,
but points out that the word has been applied to all kinds of material that can
take that form. Metal was molded into oblong pieces called slabs before being
rolled. So were small chunks of glass. Irregular masses of rubber were called
slabs, as were rectangular blocks of pre-cast reinforced concrete used in high
rises. A flat piece of wood or stone used as a table was called a slab; think
of a mortuary table. A slab of bacon was an unsliced chunk, and a slab cake was
baked in a large rectangular pan.
Available from McFarland & Co.: Word Parts
Dictionary, 2nd edition
Now available as an ebook
Now available as an ebook
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