neat wool

What is "neat wool," and why is it called that, and how old is the expression, does anyone know of this.

The only reference I can find to "neat wool" is where neat is used in the slang context of "Wonderful, terrific". As in "That is a neat wool sweater".

Roger.

snipped-for-privacy@charter.net wrote:

I've never heard of it, but I'm reminded of "neat's-foot oil" which I think is calves'-foot oil. Since calves don't have wool, perhaps it means something like "hen's teeth" - something that doesn't exist. (Or perhaps it is a reference to the times when cow tail hairs were made into strainers and so on.)

=Tamar

Another meaning of "neat" is undiluted - you might refer to "neat apple juice", meaning apple juice with no added water etc. So possibly it might mean 100% wool - but without seeing the context, I'd vote for it to mean "nice wool".

Neat is an archaic word for cattle.

Neat also means undiluted, as in "neat whiskey", but I don't know if that's what it means in reference to wool.