Feruled

Early on Saturday, I happened to walk by the indoor play area in my church. It is closed off, but with windows, like a larger version of the ones they have in some fast food places. Just inside the windows in this particular play area are benches, and I noticed that on the longer leg of the L-shaped bench area were a number women, chatting away with enthusiasm. On the shorter leg were a smaller number of men, all looking quite dejected and like this was absolutely not how and where they ever wanted to spend Saturday morning, and not interested in any conversation, thank you very much.

Of course, the children were running around in their stocking or bare feet, screaming and sweating, adding to the stench and noise that helps keep the rest of us from venturing inside. This was actually a birthday party, and the cake and other sugary treats were yet to come. So, yes, the energy level was going to go way up, followed by the crash and burn and tears and tantrum phase. Maybe the anticipation of this progression is what was going through the minds of those forlorn men sitting inside.

The women, on the other hand, were loving the chance to socialize with friends while their kids thoroughly exhaust themselves. They didn’t even care about the aforementioned stench and noise. Maybe they got used to it after a few minutes.

Feruled, or ferruled, means that something has a (usually metal) band around it. That band is called a ferule (ferrule). It can actually be a cap, rather than a band, and it usually holds things together and/or protects them. Our house has plumbing that has flexible plastic tubes with metal bands holding the tubes to the fittings. Ferrules can also be plastic, such as the one that holds the soft tip of a pool cue onto the end of the wooden shaft.

But the one where I’d actually heard/used the word before is that most paint brushes are ferruled. That is, a metal band holds the bristles in place and protects them from being damaged where they connect to the handle. When I use a paint brush for house painting and such, my fingers are actually on the ferrule, not on the shaft of the handle.

Now, what doesn’t make sense to me, is that the plastic band at the end of shoelaces is called an aglet. But it is just like a ferrule, so why does it get a different name? All those stinky shoes lined up in the little cubbies in the kids play area with aglets instead of ferrules. Ah, well, it didn’t stop me from telling the story; it only kept it from fitting together nicely. Maybe if I crimped a ferrule around it…