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| Thread ID: 60868 | 2005-08-16 04:19:00 | Education? | Cicero (40) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 381543 | 2005-08-16 04:19:00 | Subject: FW: A bit of history . . Some of you will know all this but in case you do not . 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 odor . Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married . 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 losse 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 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 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 floor to help keep their footing . As the winter wore on, they added 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 . " (Getting quite an education, aren't you?) 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 stew had food in it that had been th ere for quite a while . 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 high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death . This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous . Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky . The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers 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 . " 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 . " 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 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 . . . Now, whoever said that History was boring!!! |
Cicero (40) | ||
| 381544 | 2005-08-16 04:45:00 | www.snopes.com "In a nutshell, this whole thing is a hoax, someone's idea of an amusing leg-pull." |
pixeldust (6619) | ||
| 381545 | 2005-08-16 13:37:00 | www.snopes.com "In a nutshell, this whole thing is a hoax, someone's idea of an amusing leg-pull."Nice one. But he obviously had a lot of time on his hands to research that lot. ;) |
Greg (193) | ||
| 381546 | 2005-08-16 20:12:00 | Nice one. But he obviously had a lot of time on his hands to research that lot. ;) It's Snopes. It's quite possible he has all the time in the world. |
pixeldust (6619) | ||
| 381547 | 2005-08-16 20:31:00 | So how did they get the expression "pulling ones tit" | ERR (8231) | ||
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