General Chat

In George Washingtons day there were no camera's.Ones 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 the painters were not based on how many people were to be painted rather how many limbs are to be painted. Arms and legs are "limbs" therefore painting them would cost the buyer more.
Hence the expression " Okay, but it will cost you an arm and a leg"

That's interesting Margaret, I didn't know that!
Lizx

In local taverns,pubs or bars people drank from pint or quart size containers. A barmaids job was to keep an eye on the customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention to remember who was drinking "pints" and who was drinking " quarts". Hence the term"minding your "P,s and "Qs"

Men and women took baths only twice a year ( May and October)Women kept their hair covered while men shaved their heads( because of bugs and lice) and wore wigs. Wealthy men could afford good wigs made from wool. They couldnt wash the wigs so to clean them would 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"

Personal hygene 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 face to smooth out their complextions. When they were speaking to each other,if a woman began to stare at amother womens face she was told "mind your own bee's wax".Should the women smile the wax would crack hence the term "crack a smile". In addition,when they sat too close to the fire,the wax would melt. Therefore the expression "losing face"

Ladies wore corsets,which would lace up at the front. A proper and dignified women.as in " straight laced" wore a tightly tied lace

In the late 1700s many houses consisted of a large room with only one chair. Commonly, a long wide board folded down from the wall,and was used for dining.The "head of the household" always sat on the chair while everyone else ate sitting on the floor. Occasionally a guest, who was usually a man would be invited to sit in this chair during the meal.. To sit in the chair meant you were important and in charge. They called the one sitting in the chair "the chair man. Today in business we use the expression or title "Chairman" or Chairman of the Board"

Early politicians required feed back from the puplc to determine what the people considered important. The politicians sent their assistants to local taverns . They were told" go sip some ale" and listen to peoples 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"

One more: Bet you didn't know this! In the heyday of sailing ships all war ships and some freighters carried iron cannons. The cannons fired round iron cannon balls.It was necessary to keep a good supply near the cannon.But how to prevent them from rolling down the deck.? The best storage method devised was a square-based pyramid with one ball at the top,resting on four,resting on nine,resting on sixteen. Thus a supply of 30 could be stacked in a small space next to the cannon.There was only one problem....how to stop the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others. The solution was a metal plate called a "Monkey" with sixteen round indentations.

However, if this plate was made of iron the iron balls would quickly rust to it.The solution to the problem was to make" Brass monkeys". Few land lubbers realise 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 the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey. Thus it was quite literally,"Cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey"( All this time you thought that was an improper expression,didnt you?)

Very interesting Margaret.

Karen x

Some really interesting facts here. Thanks
Di

They're amusing, but I'm afraid none of them are true facts.

. It was something sent to me which I thought amusing. Never thought to check if they were true facts sorry