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View Full Version : The origin of common phrases: is this for real?



Miss Meow
10-21-2003, 04:51 AM
It's going around e-mail at the moment ...

* * * * * *
The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.

* * * * * *
Here are some facts about the 1500s:
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly
bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

* * * * * *
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the
house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children-last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

* * * * * *
Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood
underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

* * * * * *
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This
posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

* * * * * *
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor."

* * * * * *
The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter
when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."

* * * * * *
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle
that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

* * * * * *
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."

* * * * * *
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

* * * * * *
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt
bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."

* * * * * *
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the
custom of holding a "wake."

* * * * * *
England is old and small and the local folks started running out
of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie
a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."

anna_66
10-21-2003, 07:23 AM
Wow Nicole, that's so interesting. Thanks for sharing:)

stacwase
10-21-2003, 07:30 AM
Those were a lot of fun to read! Thanks!

Soledad
10-21-2003, 08:35 AM
I don't think these are legit. Some of them seem like they came from a couple of jokers...

Randi
10-21-2003, 09:19 AM
Very interesting! I believe most of it is true. :eek:

Heather Wallace
10-21-2003, 09:20 AM
Interesting stuff

Tonya
10-21-2003, 10:08 AM
Oh my gosh! That's pretty interesting. I'm curious to know if they are true.

lovemyshiba
10-21-2003, 10:22 AM
Yep, I'm curious as well.
A few of them seem a little far fetched, but some of them really seem like they could be true.

RICHARD
10-21-2003, 11:22 AM
lol

thanks!

Yes, some of those are true...
tomatoes were considered poisonous up until the
time of the american colonies......one president was 'poisoned' with tomates!!


I have a book on phrases and origins.......

i can't remember the name but it's interesting as all get out....If i remember I'll get the name and post it....it's worth a look.

tatsxxx11
10-21-2003, 12:52 PM
I love the study of etymology and researching the origin of phrases! I have links to several great sites that discuss the origin of many common phrases and sayings and many of yours I have read myself! As a matter of fact, everything you just posted comes directly from this site I have bookmarked!!

Phrases (http://www.essex1.com/people/jrfrienz/sayings.htm)

"Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" originated from the old "rope beds" which had ropes instead of springs to hold up the mattress. The weight of one or two sleeping adults would loosen the ropes, making for a poor night's rest. Every day they had to be tightened or the sleepers' butts would hit the floor by the end of the night!:D I have two antique rope beds and I can tell you, they do sag unless you tighten them! And the mattresses, especially in poorer homes, were most often filled with marsh hay which was loaded with bugs and creepycrawlies!:eek:

"Tied to her/his mother's aproan strings" evolved from the practice of mothers literally tying their toddlers to their apron strings while they worked lest they wander into the large open fire hearths and get burned!

In Colonial America, baths were indeed a luxury, taken perhaps once during the colder months. The heavier outerwear, e.g. shirts, vest, pants, jackets were washed once over the winter; the undergarments perhaps once a month!

The most common cause of death in Colonial days (for women) was infection resulting from burns; NOT childbirth! Women working all day at those large, open hearths were at great risk of their long skirts catching on fire. As a rule, most women wore wool, instead of cotton skirts, even during the summer, as the wool, as opposed to cotton, first smolders rather than igniting in flames!


Word Wizard (http://www.wordwizard.com/)

Word Origins (http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/meanings.htm)

PhraseFinder (http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/meanings/a-1.html)

mugsy
10-21-2003, 01:20 PM
I knew all of them. I have a friend who is in the SCA, who recreates the Middle Ages and she told me all of those. I love reading those things.

Miss Meow
10-21-2003, 04:50 PM
They were all quite fun, but I'm a bit disturbed by the "it's raining cats and dogs" one!

RICHARD
10-21-2003, 04:58 PM
Originally posted by Miss Meow
They were all quite fun, but I'm a bit disturbed by the "it's raining cats and dogs" one!


I have no problems with that...I just avoid stepping in the POODLES......

old joke.....i'll leave now.....:rolleyes:

bluekat
10-21-2003, 05:46 PM
Wow, those are very interesting!:eek:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly
bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

:eek: :eek: :eek:

Felicia's Mom
10-21-2003, 08:24 PM
Thanks, that was interesting!

Samantha Puppy
10-22-2003, 09:07 AM
Originally posted by Miss Meow
Here are some facts about the 1500s:
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly
bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. That's why I'm getting married in June. :p

Chinadoll
10-22-2003, 12:57 PM
Originally posted by Samantha Puppy
That's why I'm getting married in June. :p

LOL!!!