In the 1400s a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed
to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb.
Hence we have 'the rule of thumb.'
Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled
'Gentlemen Only...
Ladies Forbidden'... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English
language.
Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from
history:
Spades - King David,
Hearts - Charlemagne,
Clubs -Alexander the Great,
Diamonds - Julius Caesar
In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by
ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the
bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... 'goodnight, sleep
tight.'
It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a
month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his
son-in-law with all the mead he could drink.
Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this
period was called the honey month, which we know today as the
honeymoon.
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts...
So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would
yell at them 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.'
It's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into
the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill,
they used the whistle to get some service.
'Wet your whistle' is the phrase inspired by this practice.
In 1696, William III of England introduced a property tax that
required those living in houses with more than six windows to pay a
levy. In order to avoid the tax, house owners would brick up all
windows except six. (The Window Tax lasted until 1851, and older
houses with bricked-up windows are still a common sight in the U.K.)
As the bricked-up windows prevented some rooms from receiving any
sunlight, the tax was referred to as “daylight robbery”!
Now, there you have the origin of these phrases.
Interesting ....
Isn't it!
