Date:    Mon, 29 Jun 1998 18:47:18 -0700
<br>From:    "A. Vine" <avine[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ENG.SUN.COM>
<br>Subject: Re: Query: dipped and dyed
<br>
<br>Gerald Cohen wrote:
<br>>
<br>>     A colleague today told me that an old lady he knows recently said: "I'm
<br>> a Methodist dipped and dyed,"  the meaning being "I'm a Methodist through
<br>> and through."  And he asked me just what "dipped and dyed" literally refers
<br>> to.
<br>>
<br>>     I'm not sure.  Can anyone help?  "Dyed" looks like "dyed-in-the-wool,"
<br>> and I suppose that the wool could be dipped into the dye.  But this is just
<br>> thinking out loud.  "Dipped" could be "baptized," but then "dyed" wouldn't
<br>> make sense. Tallow candles are formed by being dipped, but are they dyed
<br>> too?
<br>>
<br>>     Has anyone else ever heard "dipped and dyed?"   Any help at all would
<br>> be appreciated.
<br>>
<br>
<br>Wool is a reasonable guess.  In order to prepare wool for spinning, it goes
<br>through the following process:
<br>
<br>1.  The sheep is sheared.
<br>2.  The fleece is inspected and unusable bits are thrown out.
<br>3.  The wool is washed using a dipping process.  (If wool is agitated, it binds
<br>together and becomes felt.  This is, in fact, how felt is made.)
<br>4.  The wool is dyed.
<br>5.  The dyed wool is carded or combed.
<br>
<br>The dyeing can occur after the spinning, but this can produce a different
<br>effect.
<br>
<br>However, I have no idea if this is where the expression comes from.
<br>
<br>Andrea - sometimes a spinster
<br>