The History Of Some Words_1

1.       There was an old Hotel/Pub in Marble Arch, London, which used to have gallows adjacent to it, where prisoners were taken to be hanged, after a fair trial of course. The horse-drawn dray carting the prisoner was accompanied by an armed guard, who would stop the dray outside the pub and ask the prisoner if he would like, “One last drink.” If he said yes it was referred to as, “One for the road.” If he declined, that prisoner was, “On the wagon.”

2.       When they used to use urine to tan animal skins, families used to all pee in a pot and then once a day it was taken and sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were, “Piss poor,” but worse than that were the really poor folks, who couldn't even afford to buy a pot. They didn't have a pot to piss in, they were the lowest of the low.

3.       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 in England in about the 1500s; when most people got married in June, because they took their yearly bath in May and they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell, brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour; hence the custom today, of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

4.       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!”

5.       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 and 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.”

6.       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.

7.       The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt; hence the saying, “Dirt poor.”

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