Example: While using Mortar and Pestle, the action is same as hammering but there is no hammer.
What is this action called?
asked Sep 30, 2015 at 7:44
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I would call what I do with a pestle 'smashing', but if the action is the same as hammering, the action is called 'hammering'. You can both hammer and smash with a pestle.– JELCommented Sep 30, 2015 at 7:47
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@JEL So, hammering has nothing to do with a hammer in particular, you say?– Aquarius_GirlCommented Sep 30, 2015 at 7:48
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2I say that hammering is the action, no matter with what.– JELCommented Sep 30, 2015 at 7:49
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2Mortar and pestle -- you're doing it wrong.– deadratCommented Sep 30, 2015 at 7:53
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1Pulverizing?– landocalrissianCommented Sep 30, 2015 at 12:39
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1 Answer
With a pestle and mortar, pounding or grinding (depending on the movement). Hammering suggests a series of impacts that do not destroy (hammering on a door). Pounding suggests the possibility of wearing the hit object down (hence pounding rain - breaks up the soil). Hail 'hammers' on the roof because there is little chance it will break it (in England, anyway). 'Hitting' suggests one or a few impacts, not a series. Not hard and fast rules - "He hammered his opponent into the ground" is about violent damage to someone, but uses the image of a powerful hammer and a helpless nail to get across the inequality of the fight.
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"Hammering suggests a series of impacts that do not destroy" I don't know about that. If someone described a person hammering someone else on the street, my mental picture of the scene would involve a lot of blood and crunching bones. Similarly, people intoxicated to the point of incapacitation are called "hammered" for (I believe) exactly that reason. Commented Sep 30, 2015 at 17:15