Things
You Should Know… maybe…
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."
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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.
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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 for 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."
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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 woman 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 too close to the fire, the wax would melt and therefore the expression
"losing face."
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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."
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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."
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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 taverns, 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."
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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."
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One more:
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 square 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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Gene’s CAUTION: Yeah, this is just another bit of creative
writing (you really didn’t believe
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