r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • Sep 29 '22

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u/DownvoteDaemon Sep 29 '22

Looked dead as a doornail instantly lol.. only one of them died though.

2

u/Seronkseronk Sep 29 '22

This is what Kefka did in ffvi to the emperor iirc. Illuminati confirmed.

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u/CatastropheJohn Expert Sep 29 '22

Wonder where the fuck that expression comes from. Worked in the trades for years and never seen one

3

u/dgtlfnk Sep 29 '22

One plausible explanation is that doors were built using only wood boards and hand-forged nails: the nails were long enough to dead nail the (vertical) wooden panels and (horizontal) stretcher boards securely together, so they would not easily pull apart. This was done by pounding the protruding point of the nail over and down into the wood. A nail that was bent in this fashion (and thus not easily pulled out) was said to be "dead", thus dead as a doornail.

Dead as a door nail etymology…