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dicksbro
06-29-2004, 07:46 PM
Just received this from a friend and thought you might all enjoy ...

Colonial Era Expressions and where they came from

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 or 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: bet you didn't know this!

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 ironballs 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?)

LixyChick
06-30-2004, 04:35 AM
Ohhhhhh...I saw this before and I'm still skeevie at the thought of bathing only twice a year!

P.S. I didn't make up the word "skeeve"...but it can prolly go in the Lixtionary anyway!

Belial
06-30-2004, 06:05 AM
Skeeve is also a person's name.

Steph
06-30-2004, 09:47 AM
Poor Skeeve!

Interesting facts, DB!

rockintime
07-01-2004, 01:39 AM
Thanks, DB, I enjoyed these.

Sharni
07-01-2004, 01:44 AM
Most of these are incorrect *LOL*....i posted to this somewhere else..

But still interesting the way things can be believed eh

PantyFanatic
07-01-2004, 02:26 AM
Originally posted by Sharni
Most of these are incorrect *LOL*....i posted to this somewhere else..
I thought so too Sharni. Couldn't begin to find it though. It's getting hard to find much of anything.:( Could it be time to think about a big time upgrade for our query system? ;) hu, hu?

Loulabelle
07-01-2004, 02:46 AM
Oh I'm so glad I didn't have to be the one to break it to you all that these are, somewhat....er....fictional. Nevermind....it's still entertaining, if inaccurate.

dicksbro
07-01-2004, 03:53 AM
If anyone knows where the original was posted ... let me know. I just got that in an e-mail and thought it was cute. Be interesting to read "the rest of the story." (Isn't that what Paul Harvey used to say? :D)

PantyFanatic
07-01-2004, 07:13 AM
I read the whole thing again after recalling we had this in a thread before. It IS still cute.:)


http://www.pixies-place.com:81/forums/showthread.php?threadid=20411&highlight=Chairman

Oldfart
07-01-2004, 02:03 PM
I suspect that none are truly accurate, but they still make a good read.

Say it often enough and everyone will have heard of . . . . .

dicksbro
07-01-2004, 07:50 PM
Thanks PF for finding the original posting. Makes you wonder if any of the "real" explanations are "really real." LOL.

Thanks. ;)