• Meanwhile, back in the OLD days.....
In George Washington's days, back in
the mid-1700's, 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 & October) Women always kept
their hair covered while men shaved their heads (because of lice and bugs) and
wore wigs. Wealthy men could afford good wigs. 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 1700's, 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 an invited guest would be offered to sit in this chair
during a meal but whom was almost always a man. 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/title
"Chairman."
Back then, 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, hence 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,
hatching the term "straight laced."
Common entertainment included
playing cards. However, there was a tax levied when purchasing playing cards
but applicable ONLY 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 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."
In English pubs, ale is ordered by
pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender
would yell at them mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where
we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's".
Back in the days of pirate ships,
women who were in labor would have both wrists tied to the cannons on the port
and stern of the ship, respectively. The cannons were fired simultaneously. It
was believed that the opposing recoils applied to the woman's body would assist
the labor process, hence the term "Son Of A Gun" (personally, I think
it would hurt like hell!).
