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Originally Posted by SpM
I like the idea of a fire being mended, since it suggests that its natural state is alight and that it is somehow "broken" when extinguished. And "worriting" is just a great word: one which I now intend to make great use of.
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Have to say these words didn't register on me in the same way, as both of them were in my childhood, & to an extent still are, quite common usages here. I think 'mending' in this sense derives from 'amending', putting right.
Incidentally, Chambers dictionary includes in the definition of maggot: magg'oty: full of maggots;
crotchety(ie short-tempered); very drunk. Going by the original character of Farmer Maggot, violent, short tempered, & apparenetly a bit of a drinker, I wonder if Tolkien is playing word games with us!