Fascinating facts about how we speak

I got this from my aunt and found it fascinating......thought you might as well....

SOME HISTORICAL FACTS

>>* 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!!!