Where’d that saying come from?
Ever wonder
where some of these sayings came from?
In the 1500’s 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."