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AYINGS
Marie and I were chatting one day in MSN Messenger about this very thing and we thought it would be fun to have a page dedicated to the meanings (the reason behind) these sayings became popular in our communications with each other.
What are your favourite sayings? Do you know the meaning behind them? Lets get them posted on this site? If you don't know the meaning or the origin of your sayings don't worry, send it to me, I am sure one of the members will know!
Next time you're washing your hands and 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 odor.
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 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."
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.
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 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, a "thresh hold."
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 the stew had food in it that had been there for quite awhile. 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 "chew the fat."
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Most people did not have pewter plates, but had trenchers, a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Often trenchers were made from stale bread which was so old and hard that they could be used for quite some time. Trenchers were never washed and a lot of times worms and mold got into the wood and old bread. After eating off wormy, moldy trenchers, one would get "trench mouth.."
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 "upper crust."
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them 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 thought 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 (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."
And that's the truth. . . (who ever said that History was boring)?
...........submitted by Ruth, aka Swap Queen
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A FEATHER IN ONE'S CAP
Meaning
A symbol of honour and achievement.
Origin
The placing of a feather in a hat has been a symbol of achievement that has arisen in several cultures, apparently independently. The English writer and traveller Richard Hansard recorded it in his Description of Hungary, 1599:
"It hath been an antient custom among them [Hungarians] that none should wear a fether but he who had killed a Turk, to whom onlie yt was lawful to shew the number of his slaine enemys by the number of fethers in his cappe."
The Native American tradition of adding a feather to the head-dress of any warrior who performed a brave act is well-known.
The figurative use of the phrase 'a feather in his hat', was in use in the UK by the 18th century. This is referred to in a letter from the Duchess of Portland to a Miss Collingwood, in 1734:
"My Lord ... esteems it a feather in his hat, that ..."
The children's rhyme Yankee Doodle is the best-known use of the phrase.
Yankee Doodle went to town,
Riding on a pony;
He stuck a feather in his cap,
And called it macaroni.
There are many version of the lyric. It has been suggested that this version originated with the British forces in the American War of Independence, in an attempt to mock the revolutionary militia. A doodle was 18th century British slang for simpleton (a.k.a. noodle). Macaroni was slang for a dandy or fop. This originated with the Macaroni Club, which was a group of London aesthetes who were anxious to establish their sophistication by demonstrating a preference for foreign cuisine. The thinking behind the theory is that the Yankees were so stupid as to believe that putting a feather in one's cap would make them appear fashionable.
submitted by Chrissie.
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A FLY IN THE OINTMENT
Meaning
A small but irritating flaw that spoils the whole thing.
Origin
These days ointments are chiefly for medicinal use - rubbing on that nasty rash and the like. In earlier times though ointments were more likely to be balming creams or oils with a cosmetic or ceremonial use. There is considerable anointing in Bible stories and it isn't surprising therefore that this phrase has a biblical origin. Ecclesiastes 10:1 (King James Version) has:
"Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour."
The figurative use of the term didn't arise until relatively late - the late 19th century. Here's an early citation from The Nevada State Journal, August 1873:
"I have a new watchword in life to add to many old ones - 'The flaw in the jewel!' Not till I had written this on these yellow leaves did I find that I had brought my little wisdom into the world centuries late. For what is this flaw of mine but the old story of the fly in the ointment?"
submitted by Chrissie.
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A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND INDEED
Meaning
It is sometimes suggested that this phrase means 'someone who needs your help becomes friendly in order to obtain it'. That isn't supported by the derivation (below). Most people understand it to mean, 'someone who helps you when you are in need is a true friend'.
Origin
A version of this proverb was known by the 3rd century BC. Quintus Ennius wrote: 'Amicu certus in re incerta cernitur'. This translates from the Latin as 'a sure friend is known when in difficulty'.
The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations lists it as existing in English from the 11th century. The earliest version I can find is from Caxton's Sonnes of Aymon, 1489:
"It is sayd, that at the nede the frende is knowen."
The morality play Everyman also contains similar lines. The play's date is uncertain and scholars place it as 'late 15th century', which could be before Caxton's work:
Fellowship: Sir, I say as I will do in deed.
Everyman: Then be you a good friend at need.
submitted by Chrissie.
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Meaning: Nothing lasts forever.
Origin: From the Bible, Matthew 24:6-8 (King James Version):
And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
submitted by Chrissie.
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Cigars were given as prizes at carnivals. The rest is self explanatory.
This term means to be affluent and well fed. The tastiest and most costliest part of a hog is the upper part of the body.
HOLY COW
An American English interjection used to show surprise or annoyance.
submitted by Lena & Sherley. Lena tells us that her brother-in-law used to say this alll the time!
One of those things that make you go hummm.......
Railroads
Does the statement, "We've always done it that way" ring any bells? ...
Read to the end ... it was a new one for me.
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?
Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads.
Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used.
Why did "they" use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.
Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts.
So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since.
And the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing.
The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. And bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman war chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses.
Now the twist to the story...
When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs.
The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.
So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.
..... and you thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important!
A KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR
Meaning
A person, usually a man, who comes to the aid of another, usually a woman, in a gallant and courteous manner.
Origin
The present-day use of this phrase is, of course, figurative and refers back to the notion of gallant knights saving fair maidens in distress. The reality behind that imagery is dubious and no doubt owes much to the work of those Victorian novelists and painters who were captivated by the chivalrous ideal of an imagined court of Camelot. Nevertheless, knights did wear armour, and that worn by royalty and the high nobility was highly polished and did in fact gleam and shine.
An early references to the phrase in print dates from the early 19th century. That's in The History of Charles the Great and Orlando, by Thomas Rodd, 1812. The line appears in the romantic poem The Ancient Ballad of Prince Baldwin:
Hark! the martial trumpets sounding.
For the gallant fete prepare;
Many a Knight in shining armour
Shews his dauntless prowess there.
Many of these 19th century citations describe imaginary knights who ride to the rescue of swooning maidens. That's almost, but not quite, the figurative use we have now. Present day 'knights in shining armour' may dress as they please. Some other early uses that summon up the 'shining armour' image in other contexts come from the USA. It's 'armor' there, of course. For example, this piece from The Kenosha Times, September 1857:
"The ticket nominated is composed of able, earnest, honest men - of men by their reputation for personal worth and integrity protected from assaults as by a shining armor."
submitted by Chrissie.
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Ale was served at local taverns out of a "tankard" ... you were charged by the angle of your elbow ... half-way up... you drank a pint, all the way up... you drank a quart. Since the Quart cost so much more than the Pint, you were warned to "Mind your Ps & Qs".
...........submitted by Pat, aka BigSis
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Didja Know... The saying 'a picture is worth a thousand words' is not an old proverb but was invented in 1921 by an advertising executive named Fred R. Barnard?
Solicitors kept their clients papers in a file folder tied with red ribbon to prevent the papers from falling out. Of course, when they wanted to get at the papers, they would have to cut through the red tape.
submitted by Chrissie.
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When our ancestors realized that they were burying a great deal of people before their time had actually come, they came up with a solution. They tied a string onto the "dead" person's hand, buried them, and tied the other end of the string to a bell and then tied it to nearby tree branch. If the person revived enough to ring the bell, their survivors would rush out and dig them up. Hence... "saved by the bell" submitted by Chrissie.
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Meaning - Rouse yourself and get out of bed.
Origin - Naval origin. An alternative to 'show a leg'. This was the injunction given by naval officers to ratings who they were rousing from sleep. Showing a leg out of the sailor's hammock was required to prove they were awake.
Educational and funny This is a good one! Did you know the origin of shit?? I DIDN'T KNOW THIS:
In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be transported by
ship and it was also before commercial fertilizer's invention, so large
shipments of manure were common.
It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when
wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, it not only became heavier, but the
process of fermentation began again, of which a by product is methane
gas.
As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles you can see what could (and did) happen. Methane began to build up below decks and the first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM!
Several ships were destroyed in this manner before it was determined just what was happening.
After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the term "Ship High In Transit" on them which meant for the sailors to stow it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into the hole would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane.
Thus evolved the term "S.H.I.T ", (Ship High In Transport) which has come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day.
You probably did not know the true history of this word.
Neither did I.
And I always thought it was a golf term.
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"SIX OF ONE, A HALF DOZEN OF THE OTHER (they are the same thing ...)"
"Six of one, half-dozen of the other" says that two things which people refer to differently are actually the same thing. A "dozen" is a counting word that represents twelve (12) of some particular item, so a "half-dozen" is equal to six (6) of that item, and saying "six of one" is equal to saying "a half-dozen of the other." The "one" and the "other" refer to the two things which you are saying are not so different. Example: "I say she's a stewardess. She says she's a flight attendant. It's six of one, a half-dozen of the other." Although something has been said in two different ways, they ultimately mean the same thing.
AT SIXES AND SEVENS
Meaning
A state of total confusion and disorder, or of disagreement between parties.
Origin
The derivation of this phrase is rather difficult to trace, not least because it has changed in both form and meaning over the nine centuries or so that it has been in use. The phrase was originally to set on six and seven and is thought to have derived in the 14th century from the game of dice. The meaning then was to carelessly risk one's entire fortune. The earliest citation in print is Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, 1374:
"Lat nat this wrechched wo thyn herte gnawe, But manly set the world on sexe and seuene."
Six and seven is probably a corruption of cinque and sice, which is the French for the numerals five and six. Some may feel that this is a step too far, and the theory does set the folk-etymology antennae twitching. The OED supports the idea though, which will be good enough authority for most people.
If things had stayed that way the origin of the phrase would be fairly cut and dried and there would be little more to say. As we know though, it is now given as at sixes and sevens, having mutated via at six and seven, and the current meaning refers to a state of confusion, disorder or disagreement, not one of risk.
There's no question of these different versions arising independently though. The movement from one to another was gradual and they overlap each other in time. The first appearance in print of at six and seven is in 1535 and the last citation of on six and seven in 1601. The first appearance of at sixes and sevens was in 1670, in Leti's Il cardinalismo di Santa Chiesa, translated, or as the subtitle of the work helpfully notes, 'faithfully Englished' by G. H., 1670:
"They leave things at sixes and sevens."
There are two other stories that contend for the honour of being the source of this phrase (or one of the versions of it at least). One is the biblical text - Job 5:19 (King James Version):
"He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee."
Other than being old and including the numbers six and seven, this doesn't seem to make a very strong claim. Chaucer would though have been familiar with earlier versions of this Bible story in Latin.
The other is an appealing tale. The mediaeval Livery Companies that were established in London include The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors (Tailors) and The Worshipful Company of Skinners (Fur Traders). The precedence of the companies was set in 1515, but these two companies disputed their positions and a compromise was agreed by which they exchange sixth and seventh place each year, at Easter.
Given that the Chaucer quotation is earlier, the Livery Company story can't be the source of set on six and seven. It is quite possible though that, having that existing phrase, the coincidence of the dispute being between the sixth and seventh places caused the migration in meaning. If that is in fact what happened then it could be argued that this is how the present day phrase originated.
submitted by Chrissie.
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"SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW, SOMETHING BORROWED, SOMETHING BLUE"
The "old" was usually a personal gift from mother to daughter, a symbolic piece of wisdom for married life. "Something new" symbolized the new family formed by the couple. "Borrowing" is especially important, since it is to come from a happily married woman, thereby lending the bride some of her own marital bliss to carry into the new union. Blue has two traditions: Pagan Roman maidens wore blue on the borders of their robes to denote love, modesty and fidelity, while Christians associate it with the purity of the Virgin Mary.
...........submitted by Pat, aka BigSis
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In 1852, the English ship “Birkenhead” was shipwrecked, a tragedy that originated this phrase;
The Birkenhead was one of the first iron ships accepted by the Ministry of the British Navy. It was built by the Laird Brothers in 1845 and was adapted to transport troops. In January 1852, the ship left England for Algoa Bay in in the south of Africa, carrying 680 people, most of them soldiers and a small group of 56 women and children.
The ship had just left Cape of Good Hope, when suddenly at 2 in the morning, it crashed into an enormous undersea rock producing a terrible tear in its hull. Water rushed in and the Marines who slept in their bunks were drowned inmediately. The troops commander , Alexander Seton rounded up the rest of the men, most of whom were young recruits, and made them form up on deck dressed in their best uniforms, while the women and children were lowered into the life-boats. But most of the men, who had no hope of being saved in the shark infested waters, stood to attention on the deck while the ship sank. In this shipwreck, 455 people died including the captain and commander Seton, and among the survivers were the women and children. This tragic story with its heroic characters has inspired many pictures , books and films.
Found in The Argentine Navy Submariners magazine “El Periscopio” Sept 2003
submitted by Daphne
Always
extend a hand in friendship!
Take a moment to look at this
Friendship Book
and this Friendship Card
Love to have you sign the guestbook before you leave today.
We are the Circle of Friends, made from a chain,
A chain of cable and wire without an end.
There's lots to do and plenty of friends to meet in the Worldwide Circle of Friends! We have people from all over the world who meet, chat and share experiences.
Find out more about us in the site, look at the Message Board and then be sure to join in!
“A ball is a circle. No beginning, no end.
It keeps us together, like our Circle of Friends;
but, the treasure inside, for you to see
is the treasure of friendship you've granted to me.
Today I pass the friendship ball to you. Pass it on to someone who is a friend to you.”
A warm welcome from Sharon,
founder of the Worldwide Circle of Friends
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