Fact?!

[silvasurfa]

Here are some 'facts' (?) from around the 1500's, not sure I believe half of them.

Some are interesting some aren't...

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 cats and other

small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became

slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and 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 entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

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 hence the saying,

"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 hence "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 (hence the "graveyard shift") to

listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was

considered a "dead ringer."

Now, whoever said that History was boring!!!

(probably most people who bothered reading this!) :P

[Mkuk0]

I love obscure knowledge, Nice one mate, got any more??

Here's just one, the fictional town of Royston Vasey in The League Of Gentlemen is in fact Chubby Brown's real name!

[Demonic Angel]

lol brilliant - I'm sure I've read them before and I believe they are all true!

Fascinating stuff though - I wonder what sayings will be still said 500 years from now?

[cfc1]

lol brilliant - I'm sure I've read them before and I believe they are all true!

Fascinating stuff though - I wonder what sayings will be still said 500 years from now?

←

What does the button on my Yaris stereo push in for?.. must surely be one of them ?

[DefiantFrog]

A Giraffe is the only animal that can clean its ears out with its own tongue! :P

[silvasurfa]

Wish I could do that, :censor: ear infection!

No wait... no I don't

[Boro Sera]

The kite was originally invented as a means for drying string

[silvasurfa]

nice one

I thought string was invented to stop kites flying off though?!

It's like the egg and the chicken, which came first?!! :P

[PaulT]

bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (hence the "graveyard shift") to

listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was

considered a "dead ringer."

←

Busted chap!

Dead Ringer

Dead Ringer again

Paul.

[silvasurfa]

muchous appreciation for your research Paul! bored ?!!

[cfc1]

nice one

I thought string was invented to stop kites flying off though?!

It's like the egg and the chicken, which came first?!! :P

←

A chicken and an egg are lying in bed. The chicken is smoking a cigarette with a satisfied smile on its face. The egg is frowning and looking very frustrated.

The egg mutters, to no one in particular, "Well, I guess we answered THAT question!"

[silvasurfa]

I'll have to remember that one!

[Blue84]

Haha reading stuff like that is always interesting, gotta love the raining cats and dogs one