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| Norma J Ogle juneokc3 | WHY WE SAY THINGS WE SAY | Sun, 30 May 2004 23:29:45 -0500 |
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NOW HEAR THIS!
Why Do We Say Some of the Things We Say
Did you know?
In George Washington's days, there were no cameras. One's image was
either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of George Washington showed
him standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others
showed both legs and both arms. Prices charged by painters were not based
on how many people were to be painted, but by how many limbs were to be
painted. Arms and legs are "limbs," therefore painting them would cost
the buyer more. Hence the expression, "Okay, but it'll cost you an arm
and a leg."
As incredible as it sounds, men and women took baths only twice a year!
(May and October) Women kept their hair covered, while men shaved their
heads (because of lice and bugs) and wore wigs. Wealthy men could afford
good wigs made from wool. The wigs couldn't be washed, so to clean them
they could carve out a loaf of bread, put the wig in the shell, and bake
it for 30 minutes. The heat would make the wig big and fluffy, hence the
term "big wig." Today we often use the term "here comes the Big Wig"
because someone appears to be or is powerful and wealthy.
In the late 1700s, many houses consisted of a large room with only one
chair. Commonly, a long wide board was folded down from the wall and used
or dining. The "head of the household" always sat in the chair while
everyone
else ate sitting on the floor. Once in a while, a guest (who was almost
always a man) would be invited to sit in this chair during a meal. To sit
in the chair meant you were important and in charge. Sitting in the
chair, one was called the "chair man." Today in business we use the
expression or title "Chairman" or "Chairman of the Board". Needless to
say, personal hygiene left much room for improvement. As a result, many
women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would
spread bee's wax over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions.
When they were speaking to each other, if a w oman began to stare at
another woman's face she was told "mind your own bee's wax." Should the
woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term "crack a smile." Also,
when they sat to close to the fire, the wax would melt and therefore the
expression "losing face."
Ladies wore corsets which would lace up in the front. A tightly tied lace
was worn by a proper and dignified lady as in "straight laced."
Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax
levied when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the "Ace of
Spades." To avoid paying the tax, people would purchase 51 cards instead.
Yet, since most games require 52 cards, these people were thought to be
stupid or dumb because they weren't "playing with a full deck."
Early politicians required feedback from the public to determine what was
considered important to the people. Since there were no telephones, TV's
or radios, the politicians sent their assistants to local tave rns, pubs,
and bars who were told to "go sip some ale" and listen to people's
conversations and political concerns. Many assistants were dispatched at
different times. "You go sip here" and "You go sip there." The two words
"go sip" were eventually combined when referring to the local opinion
and, thus we have the term "gossip."
At local taverns, pubs, and bars, people drank from pint and quart-sized
containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers and keep
the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who was
drinking in "pints" and who was drinking in "quarts," hence the term
"minding your "P's and Q's."
One more: bet you didn't know this!
In the heyday of sailing ships, all war ships and many freighters carried
iron cannons. Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was
necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon, but how to prevent them
from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised was a sq
uare based pyramid with one ball on top, resting on four resting on nine,
which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be
stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one
problem... how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from
under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a "Monkey" with
16 round indentations. But, if this plate were made of iron, the iron
balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was
to make "Brass Monkeys." Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts
much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the
temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much
that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey. Thus, it was
quite literally, "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey."
(And all this time, you thought that was an improper expression, didn't
you?)
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