the.com/cordless drill
Freedom from outlets, bought with a battery that dies mid-hole.
means A battery-powered hand tool that drives screws and bores holes without being tethered to a wall socket.
from 'Cord' traces back to Latin chorda (a string or gut), via Greek khordē — the same root that gives us 'cord' in vocal cords and 'chord' in music. 'Drill' comes from Dutch drillen, meaning to bore or to turn round, borrowed into English around the 1600s. 'Cordless' itself is a modern compound, snapped together in the 20th century once battery technology made untethered power tools possible — the word literally announcing the absence of the thing it's defined by.
- torque setting
- a guessing game until you strip a screw
- battery life
- full when stored, dead when needed
- chuck size
- determines which bits you cannot find
- true purpose
- making flat-pack furniture feel vaguely professional