Thawing frozen points

[John Ashworth]

Click on the thumbnail for this photo from RailPictures.Net

[Tom Macrery]

Note that it was in Tennessee! (ie in the South)

[Steve Appleton]

"to unthaw"... does that not mean "to freeze", even in US English? As in "to freeze the frozen switch". In UK English we would normally simply say "thaw", even saving a few letters of the alphabet along the way. Perhaps my command of US English and its unuse of double negatives is not all it shouldn't be!

[John Ashworth]

You're right, Steve. I hadn't even noticed it in the RailPictures.Net caption. I used "thawing" in the post title because that's the correct word which came automatically to mind.

[Kevin Wilson-Smith]

I thought I thaw a puddy tat. Unthawing a puddy tat would be turning a blind eye to a puddy tat?

All he needs is a sausage on a stick.....

[John Ashworth]

And from the Norse epics:

The God of War rode forth one day
Upon his snow-white filly.
"I'm Thor!" he cried.
The horse replied,
"You forgot your thaddle, thilly!"

[Tom Macrery]

Obviously you 'unthaw' the switch in order to 'unloosen' it, in the same way we 'unloosen' knots.

[Steve Appleton]

Now I am all tied up in unloosened knots -- tongue-tied!