Can you guys verify any of these?

Adex_Xeda · Post by **Adex_Xeda** » December 6, 2003, 6:58 pm

I got an email that "explained" certain phrases you hear day to day.

Some of them sounded a little bit far fetched.

Would you mind reading this list and telling me which ones seem bogus and which ones seem credible due to something you've experienced that might provide confirmation?

For instance, story <4> seems a little to odd to be true, whereas story <5> seems perfectly plausible.

What do you think?

<1>In George Washington's days, there were no cameras. One's 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 painters were not
based on how many people were to be painted, but by how many limbs were
to be painted. Arms and legs are "limbs" therefore painting them would
cost the buyer more. Hence the _expression "Okay, but it'll cost you an
arm and a leg."
**************************************
<2> As incredible as it sounds, men and women took baths only twice a year!
(May and October).Women kept their hair covered, while men shaved their
heads (because of lice and bugs) and wore wigs. Wealthy men could
afford good wigs made from wool. The wigs couldn't be washed so to
clean them, they could 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." Today we often use the term "here
comes the Big Wig" because someone appears to be or is powerful and
wealthy. ****************************************
<3> In the late 1700s many houses consisted of a large room with only one
chair.Commonly, a long wide board was folded down from the wall and used
for dining. The "head of the household" always sat in the chair while
everyone else ate sitting on the floor. Once in a while an invited
guest would be offered to sit in this chair during a meal (who was
almost always a man). To sit in the chair meant you were important and
in charge. Sitting in the chair, one was called the "chair man." Today
in business we use the _expression/title "Chairman...or Chairman of the
Board"
**************************************
<4> Needless to say, personal hygiene 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 facial skin to smooth out
their complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman
began to stare at another woman's face she was told "mind your own bee's
wax." Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term "crack
a smile." Also, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt
and therefore the _expression "losing face."
**************************************
<5> Ladies wore corsets which would lace up in the front. A tightly tied
lace was worn by a proper and dignified lady as in "straight laced."
**************************************
<6> Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax
levied when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the "ace of
spades." To avoid paying the tax, people would purchase 51 cards
instead. Yet, since most games require 52 cards, these people were
thought to be stupid or dumb because they weren't "playing with a full
deck."
**************************************
<7> Early politicians required feedback from the public to determine what
was considered important to the people. Since there were no telephones,
TV's or radios, the politicians sent their assistants to local taverns,
pubs and bars who were told to "go sip some ale" and listen to people's
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."
**************************************
<8> At local taverns, pubs and bars, people drank from pint and quart sized
containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers and
keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who
was drinking in "pints" and who was drinking in "quarts."
Hence the term "minding your "'P's and Q's."

Dregor Thule · Post by **Dregor Thule** » December 6, 2003, 7:20 pm

I think you can be quite naive :/

Karae · Post by **Karae** » December 6, 2003, 7:27 pm

From what I know, number 2, 3, and 8 are fairly accurate but twisted some. I believe #2 is just a reference to the large, powdered wigs worn by English aristocracy. #3 a reference to the chair at the head of the table usually designated for the decision maker of the situation - not the fact that everyone else is sitting on the floor. #8 is more a reference that those drinking in the bar should mind their P's and Q's so as not to get too drunk.

I'm not familiar with the rest, but they seem ridiculous to me. I doubt they're at all true.

Adex_Xeda · Post by **Adex_Xeda** » December 6, 2003, 11:41 pm

Naive would be my blindly accepting them as true.

Sionistic · Post by **Sionistic** » December 7, 2003, 1:20 am

I remember hearing about 2 in school, I think its true, women would bathe like, when they were born, and thier wedding day

Skogen · Post by **Skogen** » December 7, 2003, 2:21 am

Dregor Thule wrote:I think you can be quite naive :/

?

why? he just posted asking about validity.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » December 7, 2003, 3:46 am

Skogen wrote:
Dregor Thule wrote:I think you can be quite naive :/
?

why? he just posted asking about validity.

I want that chipmunk for a pet!

vn_Tanc · Post by **vn_Tanc** » December 7, 2003, 9:18 am

I've read two explanations of Ps & Qs. The one above and the another explaining that it stands for Pieds & Qoiffure. i.e. watch your head and feet. I forget the rest of the reasons why this was.

Never heard the beeswax stuff.

The rest sounds like grains of truth twisted by chinese whispers to me.

Arborealus · Post by **Arborealus** » December 7, 2003, 2:59 pm

Certainly all fairly plausible...

I have seen far less probable etymologies and explanations of idiosyncratic phrases prove valid in past...

Might just hit a public library and check the OED...Or subscribe to the online version if you just have to know (or can reasonably deduct it as business expense)...

...

Much

for the OED...

..

Aabidano · Post by **Aabidano** » December 8, 2003, 1:06 am

Ps and Qs was explained to me as a reminder for sailors to keep track of pints and quarts so they didn't get cheated when they settled their bar tab on payday.

Frequent bathing is a fairly recent obsession even in the US, I can't remeber what it was driven by though. Radio advertising for a brand of soap I think. Weekly seems to be pretty common a lot of places I've been. Fri afternoon in most Asian cities is pretty ripe, though you don't notice after the first time or two.

I read somewhere that daily bathing does more harm than good, it strips the acidic oils and such off you skin and hair that act as an anti-bacterial agent.

Fredonia Coldheart · December 8, 2003, 11:32 am

Another good place to look things like these up is the following website ...

http://www.word-detective.com/index.html

His explaination of "mind your own beeswax"

The story you've heard about "beeswax hiding pock-marks" has been circulating on the internet for quite a while and, like most stories of this type, was almost certainly dreamt up out of whole cloth by someone working backwards to explain the phrase "mind your own beeswax." While it is true that beeswax (defined in the literal sense by the Oxford English Dictionary as "The wax secreted by bees as the material of their combs…") has long been used in cosmetics, the phrase "mind your own beeswax," meaning "mind your own business," has nothing to do with the wax of bees. "Beeswax" in this phrase is simply a jocular variation on the word "business." It's a little joke, in other words, and quite a useful one at that, since telling someone to "mind your own beeswax" conveys the meaning of "mind your own business" without any unpleasant overtones of hostility. "Mind your own beeswax" first appeared around 1934.

I like the Word Detective much better than the following website - though this one has its moments too ...

http://www.straightdope.com/index.html

Krimson Klaw · Post by **Krimson Klaw** » December 8, 2003, 1:09 pm

I heard about the bees wax one from my teacher in school. True? I dunno, but I believed it then.

Fallanthas · Post by **Fallanthas** » December 8, 2003, 1:16 pm

5 is right in spirit, and most likely also the source of the term "loose woman"......

At least most of that list is creative.

Burke · Post by **Burke** » December 9, 2003, 10:57 am

I've read two explanations of Ps & Qs. The one above and the another explaining that it stands for Pieds & Qoiffure. i.e. watch your head and feet.

Um Tanc that second word is spelled Coiffure, which is hairdo in English.
It sounds like someone was having you on.

The pints and quarts thing is derived from the barman keeping track of how many he had served to whom. I believed he kept track with chalk on a slate. Something like that.

That gossip thing sounds like crap, and the dictionary only mentions Middle and Old English god+sibb, god+kinsman or related as its origins.

Pherr the Dorf · Post by **Pherr the Dorf** » December 9, 2003, 12:23 pm

Fallanthas wrote:5 is right in spirit, and most likely also the source of the term "loose woman"......

At least most of that list is creative.

mmmmmmmmm "loose women"

Boogahz · Post by **Boogahz** » December 9, 2003, 10:19 pm

I remember asking a guy who was bi why he preferred men over women...he said something about swinging a baseball bat in a trashcan, hehe

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » December 10, 2003, 4:39 am

Back in the early 00's, a group of players in a game called EverQuest would use a guild to get their Epics. After receiving their Epics they would leave for a better guild thanking the guild that helped them get the Epic as they left. When they left the guild they would turn and hail,"Thx Epic!" as they guildremoved.

miir · Post by **miir** » December 10, 2003, 12:36 pm

Um Tanc that second word is spelled Coiffure, which is hairdo in English.

French, actually.

Atokal · Post by **Atokal** » December 10, 2003, 12:51 pm

Shot Glass

I heard was a term that originated in Jolly Ole England.
When hunting pheasant or other birds the use of a Shot gun would result in the fowl being peppered with small pellets.

While eating the bird the diner occasionally would come across some shot and spit the offending lead into a glass. Hence the term Shot Glass.