History of a Phrase We Use

[Grizz]

I have a fascination with the etymology of words and phrases. Well, heres a new one I learned.

It was necessary to keep a good supply of cannon balls near the cannon on old war ships. But how to prevent them from rolling about the deck was the problem. The storage method devised was to stack them as a square based pyramid, with one ball on top, resting on four, resting on nine, which rested on sixteen.

Thus, a supply of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right next to the cannon. There was only one problem -- how to prevent the bottom layer from sliding/rolling from under the others.

The solution was a metal plate with 16 round indentations, called, for reasons unknown, a Monkey. But if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make them of brass - hence,Brass Monkeys. Few people realize that brass contract much more and much faster than iron when chilled.

Consequently, when the temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon balls would come right off the monkey.

Thus, it was quite literally, cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey. And all this time, folks thought that was a vulgar expression.

 

[Wheaties]

I've never heard that expression but I'm sure going to use it now! :biggrin:

 

[jwoodwright]

Grizz,
Oldie but goodie! Another is "loose Cannon"...

 

[Russianwolf]

okay, how about

"Cold a s a witch's tit"

According to a guy I spoke with a while back, "screw you and the horse you rode in on" was the first guy Paul Revere woke up.

 

[rjwolfe3]

Cool I learned something new today!

 

[DozerMite]

Thermometers used to be called witches, and the bulb that the mercury sits in, is the tit. So when the temp. drops, the tit fills which indicates it is very cold. Hence...colder than a witches tit.

 

[leehljp]

Colonel, pronounced "kur nal/nel" has a long explanation. Way back when, I asked my English teacher "Why" and she promptly gave me the assignment of finding out the reason. That was my intro to the OED! Word and phrase etymology has always been an interest of mine too.

 

[leehljp]

Thermometers used to be called witches, and the bulb that the mercury sits in, is the tit. So when the temp. drops, the tit fills which indicates it is very cold. Hence...colder than a witches tit.

OK, so what is the origin of "colder than a well digger's a**? :biggrin:

 

[Len Shreck]

Dozer is that a true story? Grizz that is a great background and info I never knew Thank you for that. I think you could be a great story teller to children, please dont misinterpret what I mean I dont mean "story" as you are making it up I mean the way you presented it you seem like you would be the guy that sets around the campfire and tells the scary stories. I hope you understand what I mean I am not doing a very good job at conveying my meaning.
Len

 

[DozerMite]

OK, so what is the origin of "colder than a well digger's a**? :biggrin:

Let me get back to you on that one.

Dozer is that a true story? Grizz that is a great background and info I never knew Thank you for that. I think you could be a great story teller to children, please dont misinterpret what I mean I dont mean "story" as you are making it up I mean the way you presented it you seem like you would be the guy that sets around the campfire and tells the scary stories. I hope you understand what I mean I am not doing a very good job at conveying my meaning.
Len

Yes it is, Len.


Back in the 1700-1800's, mugs, plates, etc. were made from pewter (a form of lead). When alcohol is put in pewter, it creats a toxic concoction and people would pass out on the sidewalks. Their pulse was so slow that it was undectable and they were thought to be dead, yet they would suddenly awake while waiting for burial. So they started taking people that were found lying unconcious home and placing them on the kitchen table. The family would continue to eat around the person while they waited to see if they would awake. This is where the tradition of a wake come from.
In the same token, people used to believe that tomatoes were poisonous, because the acid from the tomatoes would cause the pewter to leach into the food and was killing people. So for 400 years people avoided tomatoes not knowing the cause of this.

 

[Len Shreck]

Awesome I learn something new every day on this site and sometimes it isn't even about pen stuff...:biggrin:

 

[jusjoe]

Thanks to both of you. I learn something today. Hopefully I will carry this on.

Joe
Nascar Fan
Severn, Md.

 

[gketell]

That is really cool information, gents. Thank you!

GK

 

[jwoodwright]

My research shows a wake is a ceremony where the dead is "watched" over by a living relative, as a sign of respect.

Oh! The cooper was kept busy making barrels and casks, buckets and mugs. Yes, mugs for the poor class. Pewter was for the wealthy.

Tomatoes are members of the Nightshade family. Fruit is safe, leaves are poisonous. Cortez brought seeds back. They were planted in Spain as ornamental scrubs and were most likely yellow variety.

Columbus brought tomatoes to Italy. Marco Polo brought noodles, soon to be called pasta from China. Before tomatoes, Italians had pesto. Ground up green herbs...

Neat stuff! How much more is out there?

 

[DozerMite]

The rich were also the only people that could afford a stone floor in their house and the poor folks only had dirt floors. This is where the phrase dirt poor originated.
Sincr the poor had the dirt floors, in the winter, the snow that was tracked in would make it muddy. So they would put a straw type stuff down called thresh to keep the mud down. Over time, the thresh got built up from applying fresh to keep it dry and would spill out the door when it was opened. So they would place a board across the doorway to hold it in. This is the thresh-hold beginning.

 

[Rmartin]

For whom the bell tolls

Have you ever heard the term, "Graveyard shift"?

In the 1800's, death came quickly. Graveyards became so over crowded, entire families were buried together. They began to find some were buried too soon. When they dug up a plot to bury another family member, they often found claw marks on the inside of coffins. To counter this, a string was run from inside the coffin and attatched to a bell above ground. Family members would sit by the grave site in case the bell rang. The rich would pay people to sit by the grave site overnight.

 

[bobindayton]

Richard
That is also the beginning of the phrase "saved by the bell". When the bell was rung they would dig up the person

Bob

 

[DozerMite]

It must have been bad for the poor.
A couple more.


For the poor, meat was a luxury item and they very seldom had any. When they could afford any, it was the pork belly that was cheap enough for them to get. When they were expecting company, they would hang the pork belly by the fireplace as status. This showed that the man of the house could "bring home the bacon".
They would sit around the fireplace with their company and enjoy some of the pork belly and "chew the fat".

 

[mbroberg]

Poorer folks could only afford the lower cuts of meat from a hog, pork belly for example. But the richer folks ate, "High off the hog".

 

[maxwell_smart007]

For the very same reason, I never use the term 'rule of thumb'

English law dictated that a man could beat his wife with a stick, so long as it wasn't thicker than his thumb - hence 'rule of thumb'...

It's disturbing that this one is still in common usage.

 

[RAdams]

Back in the old days, the used to ship manure for fertalizer. When put into the cargo holds, If the manure was stacked to low, it would get wet from salt water. This caused a chemical reaction, which caused the manre to combust. So they started stamping the manure.....


Ship
High
In
Transit.

Which eventually became the word we all love!



If you were caught having "Extra" affairs, You were locked in the stocks with a sign that said

For
Unlawful
Carnal
Knowledge

Which was eventually shortened into.......


There are two words that are considered vulgar that aren't even really dirty at all.

 

[DozerMite]

Which eventually became the word we all love!



If you were caught having "Extra" affairs, You were locked in the stocks with a sign that said

For
Unlawful
Carnal
Knowledge

Which was eventually shortened into.......


There are two words that are considered vulgar that aren't even really dirty at all.

Everyone knows that is a Van Halen album. :tongue:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Unlawful_Carnal_Knowledge

 

[jleiwig]

Back in the old days, the used to ship manure for fertalizer. When put into the cargo holds, If the manure was stacked to low, it would get wet from salt water. This caused a chemical reaction, which caused the manre to combust. So they started stamping the manure.....


Ship
High
In
Transit.

Which eventually became the word we all love!



If you were caught having "Extra" affairs, You were locked in the stocks with a sign that said

For
Unlawful
Carnal
Knowledge

Which was eventually shortened into.......


There are two words that are considered vulgar that aren't even really dirty at all.

Sorry to burst your bubble on that one

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/****.asp

and

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/****.asp

 

[TellicoTurning]

OK, so what is the origin of "colder than a well digger's a**? :biggrin:

Have you ever dug a well? :biggrin: Water rises to a certain level.

 

[Steve Busey]

And I hate to be a killjoy, but apparently there are 5 good reasons the "brass monkey" story doesn't hold up.

 

[RAdams]

Sorry to burst your bubble on that one

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/****.asp

and

http://www.snopes.com/language/acronyms/****.asp

WOW.. My 8th grade Civics teacher was wrong after all.