Clementine, a young caller from Omaha, Nebraska, wonders why we use the term run-of-the-mill to describe something ordinary. The expression originates world of manufacturing, where a run of the mill is the entire run of things being produced, whether it’s lumber or bricks, including defective products. This sense of the word run as an overall production process also appears in the expression run of the mine and run of the kiln. (In the process of discussing this last one, we’re surprised to learn from each other that’s there’s more than one way to pronounce the word kiln!) This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Run of the Mill Origins”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, my name is Clementine.
Hi, Clementine. Welcome to A Way with Words. Where are you calling from?
Omaha, Nebraska.
We’re delighted to have you, Clementine. What’s on your mind today?
Well, the other day I heard my grandma talking about a place, and she said it was run-of-the-mill, and I thought, I don’t know why run-of-the-mill means ordinary and boring, because my parents have this friend, and he owns a mill. And when I was little, I used to run around in it, and it was really fun.
What kind of mill is it?
A flour mill.
Clementine, that is an excellent question. Well, this term goes back to the world of manufacturing. You know, there are lots of different kinds of mills. For example, if you have a lumber mill and you’re cutting up, say, 10,000 planks of wood, you’re going to have some of those planks of wood that don’t turn out as well as the other ones. Maybe they’re discolored or they’re broken or the wood had a hole in it. And so out of that group of products, you’ve got the whole group, the rejects and the good ones. It hasn’t been inspected yet. And you refer to that as run-of-the-mill.
So run-of-the-mill refers to products that haven’t been gone through to inspect their quality. Or maybe like from a textile mill that’s making, say, sheets and pillowcases. Maybe you’re going to have some stitching that’s off or they just cut the cloth wrong. And that whole big group of sheets and pillowcases, before you start sorting them out and finding the ones that are bad, that’s run of the mill. It’s the whole run.
Yeah, so a run here is any group or set of items that are manufactured together, things that are made. All of the same kind. So that’s one run and you might have another run on another day. Yeah. Or you might talk about a run of newspapers being printed up one day or a run of books being published. Or a run of bad luck where you have a lot of bad luck in a row. Yeah, that’s a good point, Grant. And so it’s not really the same as running around a mill like you were doing. Does that make sense?
Okay. Yeah. Well, Clementine, I’m super happy that you called us to ask about your language question. Do me a favor and call us any time you have another language question, alright?
Okay. Thank you.
You’re welcome. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
Bye. You know, this same idea of run-of-the-mill has also survived in terms like run-of-the-mine, which is from mining, the stuff that you get out of the mine, and then run-of-the-kill. You know, if you’re K-I-L-N, if you’re baking a lot of bricks, cooking, you know, or ceramics, run-of-the-kill. Like building bricks.
But wait a second. Kill, K-I-L-N. You say it without the N.
Yeah.
That’s an alternate pronunciation, right?
I guess it is. I’m looking here now in 21 dictionaries, and I did not know that some people say the word kiln without the N. It’s considered a valid, acceptable pronunciation. I didn’t know there were people who said kiln with the N.
Kiln with the N.
Yeah.
How about that? Learn something new every day.
Yeah, I’ve spent a lot of time around ceramicists and potters, and they all talk about putting stuff in the kill. You know, you think you know your radio spouse and something new comes along. Isn’t that the beauty of doing radio together?
Well, what are you and your spouse arguing about that has to do with the language? Let us know, 877-929-9673, or email words@waywordradio.org.
