By line and thread
The expression "by line and thread" is a statement of quality and means to have done or done something well, thoroughly, according to all the rules (of the art) and completely. Today it is mostly used in a negative sense, e.g. B. cheating by the line and by the thread - cheating someone completely and with all tricks, or even beating someone by the line .
The terms come from the weaving trade : line stands for the grain direction in a roughened fabric ( cloth ), thread for the thread breakage or broken thread. After weaving a certain woven piece or section of fabric, it was checked whether the work had been carried out correctly (in terms of color, pattern, strength) with regard to the required weaving pattern - the coat - and that there was no thread breakage. If this “check for line and thread”, ie for the type of weave and for thread breakage, turned out positive, the woven piece had been manufactured correctly and thoroughly. The term found its way into the language during the 19th century .