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Tigher Send message Joined: 18 Mar 04 Posts: 1547 Credit: 760,577 RAC: 0 |
Some interesting expressions used by the English speaking world but not many know the origins. I'll publish one every so often. 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! Here are some facts about the 1500s: 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 odour. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. |
Captain Avatar Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 15133 Credit: 529,088 RAC: 0 |
Some interesting expressions used by the English speaking world but not many know the origins. I'll publish one every so often. From History Magazine: There is no evidence that June was a popular month to get married until the last 100 years. Flowers have been associated with weddings since the earliest times, probably as symbol of fertility. http://www.history-magazine.com/facts.html |
Tigher Send message Joined: 18 Mar 04 Posts: 1547 Credit: 760,577 RAC: 0 |
Hmmm OK...how about this one then: 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." |
Captain Avatar Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 15133 Credit: 529,088 RAC: 0 |
Hmmm OK...how about this one then: This explanation makes no sense when you consider the expression and its meaning. Additionally bathing was so rare that there were no bathing tubs. http://www.history-magazine.com/facts.html |
Tigher Send message Joined: 18 Mar 04 Posts: 1547 Credit: 760,577 RAC: 0 |
Hmmm OK...how about this one then: Well I think if you can't see the baby 'cos the water is so dirty there can be a risk. |
Tigher Send message Joined: 18 Mar 04 Posts: 1547 Credit: 760,577 RAC: 0 |
Another perhaps 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 dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, 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." |
Captain Avatar Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 15133 Credit: 529,088 RAC: 0 |
Hmmm OK...how about this one then: No Tubs No Missing Babies! :-) |
Daykay Send message Joined: 18 Dec 00 Posts: 647 Credit: 739,559 RAC: 0 |
Another perhaps I would have thought that in a decently thatched roof, the straw would have been piled tightly enought to keep out the rain, thus also keeping out animals such as mine and rats, certainly cats and dogs. Kolch - Crunching for the BOINC@Australia team since July 2004. Search for your own intelligence... |
Daykay Send message Joined: 18 Dec 00 Posts: 647 Credit: 739,559 RAC: 0 |
One to add: Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. A brass monkey is actually a stand designed to store cannon balls on a warship. When it was cold, it was not uncommon for the balls to fall off (I'm not sure of why). Thus when it was very cold, it was cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. Kolch - Crunching for the BOINC@Australia team since July 2004. Search for your own intelligence... |
Tigher Send message Joined: 18 Mar 04 Posts: 1547 Credit: 760,577 RAC: 0 |
Another then: 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 really 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. |
Fuzzy Hollynoodles Send message Joined: 3 Apr 99 Posts: 9659 Credit: 251,998 RAC: 0 |
One to add: So, can you freeze the balls off a brass monkey? "I'm trying to maintain a shred of dignity in this world." - Me |
Captain Avatar Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 15133 Credit: 529,088 RAC: 0 |
Another then: Canopy beds may have originated as a means of keeping out flying insects but if you think about it, people rich enough to afford a canopy bed — a huge investment in the 1500s — would also be living in homes with proper ceilings. |
Captain Avatar Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 15133 Credit: 529,088 RAC: 0 |
Another then: Somebody's fanciful imagination is at work cooking up spurious etymologies again. In short, this origin for the phrase "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" is nonsense because: * Not even the venerable Oxford English Dictionary, records a usage of "brass monkey" like the one presented here. * When references to "brass monkeys" started appearing in print in the mid-19th century, they did not always mention balls or cold temperatures. It was sometimes cold enough to freeze the ears, tail, nose, or whiskers off a brass monkey. Likewise, it was sometimes hot enough to "scald the throat" or "singe the hair" of a brass monkey. These usages are inconsistent with the putative origins offered here. * Warships didn't store cannonballs (or "round shot") on deck around the clock, day after day, on the slight chance that they might go into battle. Space was a precious commodity on sailing ships, and decks were kept as clear as possible in order to allow room for hundreds of men to perform all the tasks necessary for ordinary ship's functions. (Stacking round shot on deck would also create the danger of their breaking free and rolling around loose on deck whenever the ship encountered rough seas.) Cannonballs were stored elsewhere and only brought out when the decks had been cleared for action. * Particularly diligent gunners (not "masters," who were in charge of navigation, sailing and pilotage, not ordnance) would have their crews chip away at imperfections on the surface of cannonballs to make them as smooth as possible, in the hopes that this would cause them fly truer. They did not leave shot on deck, exposed to the elements, where it would rust. Nobody really knows where the phrase "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" came from, but the explanation offered here certainly isn't the answer. http://www.snopes.com/language/stories/brass.htm |
Tigher Send message Joined: 18 Mar 04 Posts: 1547 Credit: 760,577 RAC: 0 |
Another then: What was a proper ceiling in the 1500s then? I have to say the one's just around the corner from me have less than desirable ceilings with all kinds of opportunities for God knows what to drop on you and they are 1600s or so....even later and better design! Anyhow who said it was 1500s? |
Tigher Send message Joined: 18 Mar 04 Posts: 1547 Credit: 760,577 RAC: 0 |
Yet another: The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding 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." |
Captain Avatar Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 15133 Credit: 529,088 RAC: 0 |
Yet another: I hope yout having fun spreading the B.S. Tigher! Threshold is not derived from thrashed straw on the floor. The Oxford English Dictionary shows that the term was in use several centuries before the 16th Century and is actually from a term meaning to tread, step, or trample. A threshold was the board that was a step into a home or structure and had nothing to do with straw being held down. |
Tigher Send message Joined: 18 Mar 04 Posts: 1547 Credit: 760,577 RAC: 0 |
Yet another: 16th Century? I'm certain it was...even Jesus had straw in his stable. As for BS....well perhaps ....perhaps not....OED aint all knowing....often they agree a concensus amongst the high and mighty because there are too many competing meanings and they MUST get to one only. It don't think they're right all the time....they just have a view at a time. Oh and I think you will find the OED does actually agree with thresh hold. As it says a step or board (wood) in the entrance. |
Captain Avatar Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 15133 Credit: 529,088 RAC: 0 |
Oh and I think you will find the OED does actually agree with thresh hold. As it says a step or board (wood) in the entrance. But it is out of context with the meaning and wording of your post. Facts when Posted manytimes go unchecked and you are going right down the list of Fallices and Fables. It's easy to check since it is the internet, and I was surpised than even after qouting my source you kept posting them anyway..... |
Heffed Send message Joined: 19 Mar 02 Posts: 1856 Credit: 40,736 RAC: 0 |
Well I think if you can't see the baby 'cos the water is so dirty there can be a risk. Hmmm... How often do you submerge your baby in the tub? If you can't see your baby, it must be on the bottom of the tub. How often do you forget you're bathing your baby? One would have to be mind numbingly stupid to not realize the baby (the one that's apparently on the tub bottom) has not been removed from the tub before tossing the water. Not a lot of risk I'm thinking... ;) |
Tigher Send message Joined: 18 Mar 04 Posts: 1547 Credit: 760,577 RAC: 0 |
Oh and I think you will find the OED does actually agree with thresh hold. As it says a step or board (wood) in the entrance. Thay are, after all, just alternatives to the others. NO more....a bit of fun.... Damn I need a holiday from this stuff! |
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