Origins of Sayings
| It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000
years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his
son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their
calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we
know today as the "honeymoon." In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's." Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle," is the phrase inspired by this practice. In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes-when you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. that's where the phrase, "good night, sleep tight" came from. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb The Clink: The name of a prison which was on Clink Street in the Southwark area of London. Also source say it's the sound of the "clink" of the door closing or lock turning. Black Market: In medieval England there were nomadic mercenaries who wandered the country side and would sell their services to the highest bidder. These were hardened fighters who lived solitary lives in the wilderness. They did not have the luxury of servants to polish their armor and it would oxidize to a blackish hue, and they came to be known as black knights. At local town festivals they would have exhibition jousting matches in which the winner of the fight would win the loser's weapons and armor. The local gentry, softened by the good life, would lose to these black knights. The nomadic knights didn't have much use for an extra set of armor and would sell it back to them immediately after the fight. The losing nobility would be forced to buy back their armor and this after market came to be known as the "Black Market" *note the Oxford English Dictionary doesn't show it as having been first used until 1931 Done To A Turn: Meat was roasted until cooked on an upright spit which had to be turned by hand. Beat Around the Bush: Game birds were scared out of their hiding places under bushes and then killed. Pitcher - A leather jug treated with tar pitch to help it hold its shape. Getting Bombed: A bombard is a leather jug which holds 8 pints or 4 quarts. A full bombard of ale would make you drunk. Tumbler & Tipsy: Glasses were hand blown, thus flat bottomed glasses were difficult to produce. Those with curved bottoms would tend to tumble over when placed on the table, and too many tumblers of whiskey would make you a little bit tipsy. Saved by the Bell: - When our ancestors realized that they were burying a great deal of people before their time had actually come, they came up with a solution. They tied a string onto the "dead" person's hand, buried them, and tied the other end of the string to a bell and then tied it to nearby tree branch. If the person revived enough to ring the bell, their survivors would rush out and dig them up. Hence.."saved by the bell" People were dying in great numbers from disease,
so there was a rush to bury them before disease spread. However, some people did not die,
but only fell into comas, and when a person revived in the middle of a funeral, people
started to take notice that this may be the case. Special bell ringing devices were put
above graves so the buried person, if they revived, could bring help to unearth them. Chew The Fat: A host would offer his guests a piece of bacon, which was stored above the fireplace in the parlor, so they could chew the fat during their visit. Getting the Bum's Rush - A bum
is/was a bum-bailiff, and "getting the bum's rush" was being helped on your way
by a couple of officers. Eating Humble Pie - Servants at "umble pie" which was made from deer waste while their Master and his guests had the better cuts of meat. Turn the Tables - Tables only had
one finished side. The other side, less expensive to make, was more rough. When the family
was alone, they ate on the rough side to keep the good side nice Getting Your Goat- This apparently refers to an old English (Welsh?) belief that keeping a goat in the barn would have a calming effect on the cows, hence producing more milk. When one wanted to antagonize/terrorize one's enemy, you would abscond with their goat rendering their milk cows less- to non-productive. Saving Face or Losing Face - The noble ladies and gentlemen of the late 1700s wore much makeup to impress each other. Since they rarely bathed, the makeup would get thicker and thicker. If they sat too close to the heat of the fireplace, the makeup would start to melt. If that happened, a servant would move the screen in front of the fireplace to block the heat, so they wouldn't "lose face." Stone Cold - Slate floors were
often cold enough during the winter months that any bare skin coming in contact with them
would "stick". The slate floors were covered with a layer of hay to provide some
warmth. The kitchen was the only room kept Spring Cleaning - The layer of hay in the kitchen, was finally hauled out of the house when the weather turned warm in the Spring. Bon(e)Fire - BON(e)FIRE -
The discarded "bones" from winter meals were piled outside and a bonefire would
be set to get rid of them. Get Out of Bed On The Wrong Side - An old superstition said that it was bad luck to put the left foot down when getting out of bed. Tie the Knot - Tying the knot of
the ropes in the marriage bed. This is also from the old marriage custom of
actually tying the Reason for Canopy Beds - Most English homes of old had "thatched" roofs. Canopies were placed over the beds to keep bugs, mice, dirt, rain, etc. from disturbing your sleep!
The whole nine yards: refers to the amount of fabric in a proper Scottish kilt (actually it's not a kilt it has a different name which eludes me at this time. The item was warn around the waist and up over one shoulder. It was made of heavy wool and kept it's owner warm when it was cold (it even was warm when wet). It was used as a shelter at night and acted as armor against a blade.
Armed to the teeth: as to be heavily armed. This is a pirate phrase originating in Port Royal Jamaica in the 1600's. Having only single shot black powder weapons and cutlasses, they would carry many of these weapons at once to keep up the fight. In addition they carried a knife in their teeth for maximum arms capability.
Draw the line: As you can go no farther, I have had it. Comes from one of the Psalms which contains a reference about "drawing a line in the sand" meaning to "proceed no further." It has been shortened to"draw the line."
Skeletons in the closet: - As in there are things in your past that you don't want others to know about. Comes from the fairy tale of Blue Beard and his closet. He gave all the keys of the house to his wife when he left on business, forbidding her access to only one room, a closet at the end of a long corridor. She opened it, of course, and there she found the dead bodies of his previous wives.
Hit the sack - go to bed Although fallen out of common usage, one definition of a sack is a bed. Early mattresses were often made from a cloth sack stuffed with hay, hair, or some other form of padding.
Jig is up: You are caught or discovered "Jig" is defined as a trick or game. Hence the "jig is up" literally means the trick is over.
Lo and behold: As in To call attention to a surprising truth "Lo" is a word meaning "to call attention to" or "to express surprise". "Behold" is a word meaning "to gaze upon or observe". Both words are not well known or frequently used, especially "lo".
Pig in a poke: As in an offering that is foolishly accepted without being looked at first. A poke is defined as a bag or a pouch and is the origin of the word pocket - a small pouch. At medieval markets, unscrupulous traders would display a pig for sale. However, the pig was always given to the customer in a bag, with strict instructions not to open the bag until they were some way away. The trader would hand the customer a bag containing something that wriggled, and it was only later that the buyer would find he'd been conned when he opened the bag to reveal that it contained a cat, not a pig. The phrase refers to the failure to look inside the bag or poke. |