Oct 27, 2013
When the vesselmen pour out a heat of steel, it solidifies at the lip of the converter tap—platelets of molten pig iron freezing and hardening midflow. If the tap is clogged, the solidified metal must be knocked off with a deft kick from the cinder-pit man's thick wood-soled shoes. Careful not to place his piggies under the flow of molten metal—transferred by word of mouth and with near universal agreement, this would hurt a lot, warranting even, perhaps, the phrase "god damn."
— excerpted from "Bruised in a Manner Fitting" by Matthew Nye, published in Chicago Review 58:1 (available for order now).