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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > HAMMER AND TONGS

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pronounce HAMMER AND TONGS:

HAM ur and TONGS
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connect this term to others:

As we check out the phrase hammer and tongs, see if you can recall another term that suggests the use of heat and metal:

To a____l a piece of metal is to heat it up so that you can shape it, or perhaps join it with other pieces. More figuratively, to do this is to shape things, to change them, to toughen them, or to unite them. For example, here's Ann Lauterbach: "Art is a language which a____ls individuals to each other through experiences that are uniquely human."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) 

definition:

We've used the powerful phrase "hammer and tongs" in English since the year 1708 or so. But the technology it refers to is ancient.

(Source: the artist Marc Lapierre)

In the drawing above, you can see all the heat, force, power, precision, and workmanship as, with tongs in his left hand and a hammer in his right, the blacksmith grips a heated iron workpiece and strikes it into shape. Whatever he's making, he's going at it hammer and tongs.

More generally, if you go at something (often a fight or a debate) hammer and tongs, you go at it with strength, vigor, and precision, as if you're using both hands and all of your skill and might to make things go your way.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

In the literal sense, it's a noun: "We'll need a hammer and tongs."

In the figurative sense, it's an adverb: "We'll go at it hammer and tongs."

Other forms: 

Use hyphens for the adverb, if you like. Here's a writer from Salon: "Monday's showdown... was enthralling television—in the sense of two impassioned advocates going at each other hammer-and-tongs."

And if you'd like to use it as an adjective, I do recommend the hyphens for clarity. "In debates, he's got a hammer-and-tongs style that's always entertaining." Here's the New York Times: "Chairman Continues His Hammer-and-Tongs Method of Inquiry."

how to use it:

Pick the slangy, folksy, rare but easily understood term "hammer and tongs" when you want to emphasize the power and focus behind someone's actions.

Often it's a kind of fight or argument where people go hammer and tongs at each other, or at each other's ideas: "Instead of just sneering at each other this year, Harry and Draco actually go at it hammer and tongs;" "Some siblings go at it hammer and tongs with each other, then go back to playing together peacefully like nothing happened;" "The second the debate starts, they go at each other hammer and tongs."

Or it could be a competition, especially in sports. Here's Andrew Coltart, quoted in the Boston Globe: "[At this golf competition] are guys that know one another very well on both sides of the pond going at it absolutely hammer and tongs, giving it everything they’ve got. The pressure is enormous and the passion is huge."

examples:

"I owe a lot to Gary Mahoney. He was the campus conservative back in the middle '70s, when I was a student at the University of Southern California and we went at it hammer and tongs a few times on the opinion pages of the Daily Trojan. He made me better in the same way college itself did."
   — Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald, 27 June 2021

"It's not every day you see two writers employed by the same paper going at each other hammer and tongs, especially when that publication is The New York Times. But op/ed columnist Paul Krugman is not one to idly stand by when he feels his honor has been impugned, and business writer Andrew Ross Sorkin doesn't seem to know when it's time to just fold your cards and leave the table."
  — Andrew Leonard, Salon, 14 April 2010

has this page helped you understand "hammer and tongs"?

   

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.


study it:

Explain the meaning of "hammer and tongs" without saying "fiercely" or "tooth and nail."

try it out:

Frank Kenney recalls arguing with his boss about the best slogan for their beer:

"The next day we started all over again. He hadn't changed his mind about 'It’s In The Water.' I hadn't changed my mind, either [about 'It's The Water'], so we flew at it hammer and tongs."

Honestly, I can't relate! I hate arguing, and this particular argument seems stupid. But if you enjoy a good argument now and then, talk about a time you "flew at it hammer and tongs" with someone. Was it worth it?

If you, too, are an avid avoider of arguing, then talk about a time two characters in a book, show, or movie "flew at it hammer and tongs." Was it entertaining? Why or why not?




before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is "It's That Thing..."

We'll play with some highly slangy, reasonably wholesome terms, courtesy of Urban Dictionary.

I'll give you three terms, and you attempt to define them. Scroll down to see the correct definitions, and give yourself a point for each term that you defined either correctly or believably.

Try these today:

1. Nowcaster

2. Omninom

3. Dopamine farming

review this word:

1. The opposite of HAMMER AND TONGS could be

A. WITH GUSTO.
B. HALF-HEARTEDLY.
C. ROOT AND BRANCH.

2. Describing the work done by chemists, Anthony Baker noted in 2011, "For a long time during the Cold War years you would have had the labs in the U.S. and Russia going at it hammer and tongs. But... you now have the Russians and the Americans _____."

A. working together
B. shunning each other
C. flagging in underfunded institutions




Answers to the review questions:
1. B
2. A

From the game:

Remember, even if you're wrong, give yourself a point for coming up with a believable definition! Here are the definitions that Urban Dictionary lists.

1. Nowcaster: "A person giving accurate weather information based on the present weather conditions." Incredible.

2. Omninom: "All-hungry. All-devouring."

3. Dopamine farming: "Engaging in multiple digital activities simultaneously, such as scrolling through social media feeds, watching a show or movie, or playing a game."


a final word:


I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.


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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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