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Origin of Some Expressions
03-Dec-2009
They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a
pot then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery....... if you had to do
this to survive you were "Piss Poor"
But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to
buy a pot...... they "didn't have a pot to piss in" & were the lowest of the
low
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 they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were
starting to smell 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 cats and other
small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became
slippery and sometimes the animals would slip an d 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 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 floor to
help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh
until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A
piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: 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 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
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 the upper crust.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes
knock the imbibers 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 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...
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Monda jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Fri Dec 04, 2009 09:06 AM PSTThank you and I am glad you liked it.
very interesting blog BN
by Monda on Fri Dec 04, 2009 07:05 AM PSTThanks for sharing your information.
I have a crush on alex trebek jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 08:11 PM PSTgood to see you on the site again. I am glad you enjoyed the blog.
this was such a great blog
by I Have a Crush on Alex Trebek on Thu Dec 03, 2009 07:58 PM PSTthank you :)
Ebi jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 07:57 PM PSTThank you and a big sepaas back to you.
Ebi jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 07:57 PM PSTThank you and a big sepaas back to you.
Ali A Parsa jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 07:56 PM PSTThank you for reading, but I am sorry to disappoint you by saying that the wirter of this article is someone else and not me. This was sent to me by a friend and I thought it would be interesting to share it with my friends on this site. Thank you again for your kind words.
yolanda jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 07:51 PM PSTI am glad you liked the blog. You will get in for free. :-)
Ari jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 07:49 PM PSTI am glad you enjoyed it. LOL ;-)
Bajenaghe AZIZ !!!
by ebi amirhosseini on Thu Dec 03, 2009 07:11 PM PSTSepaas
Ebi aka Haaji
The origin of some sayings
by Ali A Parsa on Thu Dec 03, 2009 06:27 PM PSTDear Bajenagh N.,
I admire your talent in searching the meanings of some of idioms most of us use without knowing their genisis. Your unique attempt really makes such sayins even more meaningful. I am just wondering if you could also provide us with your sources if that is not expecting too much and does not remind you of "give them an inch and they want a foot!"
khody
......
by yolanda on Thu Dec 03, 2009 06:21 PM PSTDear BN,
Thank you for shaing "awful". If some day you decide to have a seminar or workshop on this topic, I will be glad to attend...even though I have to pay an admission fee! Thank you for the fun blog!
thanks,
Delaram Banafsheh (Yolanda)
"Cactus in the Desert"
Very entertaining read!
by Ari Siletz on Thu Dec 03, 2009 05:55 PM PSTIn the year 2509 people will be wondering why they praise an eloquent speech with cries of "LOL!" Stands for "Love Our Language."
shazdeh asdola mirza jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 04:12 PM PSTIt is good to see you back on the site. You were missed.
darius jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 05:10 PM PSTOne can only try even if one only copy and pastes. Thank you very much.
divaneh jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 04:04 PM PSTThat was very interesting. Thank you. I always wondered where the word taxi came from. Now I know. :-)
Oh, the good old days ... the good old days - where are you now?
by Shazde Asdola Mirza on Thu Dec 03, 2009 03:55 PM PSTVery nice BN jaan.
It reminded me of Ardabil, when I was 12 ;-)
bajenaghe Jaan
by Darius Kadivar on Thu Dec 03, 2009 03:53 PM PSTCongrats !
I see You are Getting more and more prolific as a blogger writer
Keep Up the Good Job !
;0)
They are probably true
by divaneh on Thu Dec 03, 2009 03:35 PM PSTI heard many of these in a BBC radio programme a few years ago. Piss had other uses and was a disinfectant (if I remember right because of arsenic). It was fermented and then added to water to wash the floors and walls of the rich people houses. Just as you use bleach today. It also had many industrial uses specially in cotton weaving. The British government introducd a tax on piss (not producing it, but selling it) but it was not a popular tax and was removed.
Here is another one for you. The word taxi became a synonym for cabs or carriages after a French man invented the taxometer that would calculate the fare (or tax). He was not very popular with London cabbies who threw him in the river Thames, but he was survived.
Fatollah jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 02:20 PM PSTthank you for reading. As far as I know, no one is pulling your leg. I hope not, any way. ;-)
bajenaghe naghi Aziz
by Fatollah on Thu Dec 03, 2009 01:56 PM PSTyou are a genius! or why do I feel like someone is pulling my leg? :)
-F
princess jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 01:32 PM PSTThank you for reading. I was really hoping there would be some truth in these lovely stories and I am so glad to hear from you that there may be.
Great read!
by Princess on Thu Dec 03, 2009 01:24 PM PSTBN jaan,
Some of these sound familiar from a book on etiquette from the 1800s that I stumbled upon a few years ago. That leads me to believe that at least there is a grain of truth in these. Thanks for sharing!
yolanda jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 12:42 PM PSTThank you for reading. I too like words. Thank you for sharing the words fortnight and cop. Very interesting stories behind both.
The word awful which today means bad or unpleasant originally meant the very opposite, good and full of awe.
......
by yolanda on Thu Dec 03, 2009 12:28 PM PSTHi BN,
I love your blog, it is so educational. I have e-mailed your blog to myself as a future reference. I love etymology and also the origin of the phrases. It is so cute.
I have one word to share. The word "fortnight" refers to 2 weeks, I read somewhere 'cause "fourteen nights last for 2 weeks", so "fortnight" means 2 weeks!
Another one is the word "cop". I read somewhere, 'cause the trademark buttons of police officers' uniforms were made of copper......so "cop" is a slang word for police officer.
Thank you for your very interesting blog! It is a keeper!
Delaram Banafsheh (Yolanda)
"Cactus in the Desert"
Irandokht jan
by bajenaghe naghi on Thu Dec 03, 2009 10:52 AM PSTThanks for reading. I did not write the stuff so I can't say. But the last time I talked to the nearly dead guy, he swore that he rung the bell. :-)
seriously??
by IRANdokht on Thu Dec 03, 2009 10:48 AM PSTThese all sound like fiction BN jan, especially the saved by the bell at the end. How sure are you about these explanations?
it was fun to read though ;-)
IRANdokht