From - Tue Jun 10 08:45:17 2003 Received: by gasherbrumII.peakpeak.com (mbox snowbear) (with Cubic Circle's cucipop (v1.31 1998/05/13) Tue Jun 10 08:10:51 2003) X-From_: donborg@earthlink.net Fri Jun 6 01:02:23 2003 Return-Path: Received: from albatross.mail.pas.earthlink.net (albatross.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.120.120]) by gash2.peakpeak.com (8.9.3/8.9.3.1) with ESMTP id BAA13489 for ; Fri, 6 Jun 2003 01:02:22 -0600 Received: from 1cust78.tnt13.dfw9.da.uu.net ([67.234.4.78] helo=donald-q2g3810n) by albatross.mail.pas.earthlink.net with smtp (Exim 3.33 #1) id 19OBEQ-00068d-00; Fri, 06 Jun 2003 00:01:47 -0700 Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.20030606020423.00a27d38@pop.earthlink.net> X-Sender: donborg@pop.earthlink.net X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.6 (32) Date: Fri, 06 Jun 2003 02:04:23 -0500 To: am53130@alltel.net, Banjoandvonnie@aol.com, wbrown@usc.edu, Reclarkone@sbcglobal.net, osborne@airmail.net, dvcurrie@email.msn.com, borgs@attbi.com, davidewitt@webtv.net, durowen@juno.com From: Donald Borg Subject: Fwd: Fw: Idiom origins Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 X-UIDL: 83a2314f171b0000 >From: DAROLAC@aol.com >Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2003 19:24:34 EDT >Subject: Fwd: Fw: Idiom origins >To: rshearer3@compuserve.com >CC: Eluap41@aol.com >X-Mailer: 8.0 for Windows sub 910 > > Return-path: From: LBevjon@aol.com Full-name: LBevjon Message-ID: Date: >Thu, 5 Jun 2003 13:32:23 EDT Subject: Re: Fw: Idiom origins To: >brazeau@air.on.ca, dostaler_jill@hotmail.com (Jill Dostaler), > bob.hunt@sympatico.ca, ninner@isys.ca, cynthia.jackson@hrdc-drhc.gc.ca, > Leandre.leblanc@sympatico.ca, mjlevesque@pco-bcp.gc.ca, > gamcmill@stardate.bc.ca, MrnGlory38@webtv.net, JMDLevesque@hotmail.com, > pyzevasn@EM.AGR.CA, mgr_labelle@hotmail.com, reg@albedo.net, > wsitko@vianet.ca, Lakelbs@aol.com, billandjune.upton@rogers.com, > DAROLAC@aol.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; >boundary="part2_197.1b4ccbe8.2c10d8a7_boundary" X-Mailer: 6.0 sub 12025 >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 inthe 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." > > * * * * * > >And that's the truth... > > >Now , whoever said that History was boring ! ! ! ! ! > > >Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend... > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >