Where did That come from?

[scraper]

Wow - Pretty neat information.Subject: Where did Piss Poor come from?
Interesting History
They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all
pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery.....
..if
you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor"
But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even
afford to buy a pot......they "didn't have a pot to piss in" & were the
lowest of the low
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 they still smelled pretty good by June.. However, since they
were
starting to smell . ..... . 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 lose 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 entrance-way. Hence: 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
there 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.
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 the
upper
crust.
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.
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 History was boring ! ! !

[Seamonkeydo]

What about "the whole 9 yards"? I never heard that saying prior to joining the Air Force.

[scraper]

go the full nine yards" was to fire an entire aircraft machine-gun ammunition belt, nine yards long.

[slaymans]

"The Life of Riley"

This goes back to the battle of Little Big Horn. General Custer, along with all his men, died in the battle. While I am not aware of the fate of all the other horses, General Custer's horse did survive the battle. Normally, the horse of someone lost in battle was simply assigned to a new recruit or put to work in some other capacity.

However, since this was a general's horse, it was decided he would sent to an Army fort to live out his days. The horse made the long trip to a distant fort in Kansas and had no duties. He grazed and ate oats and lived out his life in all the luxury of the day for a horse. The fort he was sent to? Fort Riley, Kansas. Hence, the saying came about, "the life of Riley".