ARE YOU "PISS POOR!?"
Birge-Bytes: The origin of words can not only be interesting but also make US grateful for what we DO have!! "I don't know HOW I got "over the hill" without getting to the TOP but the older we get the fewer the things worth waiting in line for! Some people like to turn back their Odometers. Not me, I want people to KNOW why I look this way.I've travelled a long way and some of the roads were NOT paved!"
o.k. enough suspense...time to educate!
(1)Where did the term "piss poor" come from?? They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot...they then took it to the local tannery to sell...If you HAD to do this to survive...you were called "piss poor"...worse than that...if you couldn't even afford a POT..
they didn't have a "pot to piss in"....now you know!
(2) In the 1500's most people got married in JUNE because they took their YEARLY bath in MAY...brides carried flowers because the clean was starting to wear off!
(3) Ready for this???? Baths consisted of a big tub with hot water.
The MAN OF THE HOUSE got the CLEAN,hot water FIRST...then
the sons and other men, then the WOMEN and LAST of all were the
CHILDREN and BABIES! The water was so "murky" by then, we got the saying..."don't throw the baby out with the bath water!"
(4)Houses had thatched roofs of straw with no wood under it and the animals would sleep up there for warmth(SMALL animals.Duh) When it rained the roof could get slippery and they would fall off. Hence the saying, "it's raining cats and dogs!" This is also how come we got canopy
beds with 4 posts and a top covering for protection.
(5) Only the rich had floors...we got the term "dirt poor!"
(6) They cooked in a big kettle over the fire and each day would add
new meat (not a lot) and mostly vegetables so sometimes you had stew
there for quite a while...hence: "Peas porridge hot, Peas porridge cold, Peas porridge in the POT NINE DAYS OLD!!"
(7) If they were lucky enough to get some Pork, they would hang up the bacon to show off to visitors that they could "bring home the bacon!"
They would cut off some and then sit around and "chew the fat"!
Those with money had plates made of pewter! "Acid" in tomatoes caused the lead in the pewter to leach onto the food ...causing lead poison deaths!...For the next 400 years,Tomatoes were considered "poisonous".
I will give you some more of these in the next post and will also get back
to Male/Female Differences.Remember you can always ask me questions or give me topics you would like. I learned FLEXIBILITY from being a Teacher for 27 years!! These "posts" are kind of a loving "give-back" to teachers, former students and ALL ages!.
Mrs. B.
o.k. enough suspense...time to educate!
(1)Where did the term "piss poor" come from?? They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot...they then took it to the local tannery to sell...If you HAD to do this to survive...you were called "piss poor"...worse than that...if you couldn't even afford a POT..
they didn't have a "pot to piss in"....now you know!
(2) In the 1500's most people got married in JUNE because they took their YEARLY bath in MAY...brides carried flowers because the clean was starting to wear off!
(3) Ready for this???? Baths consisted of a big tub with hot water.
The MAN OF THE HOUSE got the CLEAN,hot water FIRST...then
the sons and other men, then the WOMEN and LAST of all were the
CHILDREN and BABIES! The water was so "murky" by then, we got the saying..."don't throw the baby out with the bath water!"
(4)Houses had thatched roofs of straw with no wood under it and the animals would sleep up there for warmth(SMALL animals.Duh) When it rained the roof could get slippery and they would fall off. Hence the saying, "it's raining cats and dogs!" This is also how come we got canopy
beds with 4 posts and a top covering for protection.
(5) Only the rich had floors...we got the term "dirt poor!"
(6) They cooked in a big kettle over the fire and each day would add
new meat (not a lot) and mostly vegetables so sometimes you had stew
there for quite a while...hence: "Peas porridge hot, Peas porridge cold, Peas porridge in the POT NINE DAYS OLD!!"
(7) If they were lucky enough to get some Pork, they would hang up the bacon to show off to visitors that they could "bring home the bacon!"
They would cut off some and then sit around and "chew the fat"!
Those with money had plates made of pewter! "Acid" in tomatoes caused the lead in the pewter to leach onto the food ...causing lead poison deaths!...For the next 400 years,Tomatoes were considered "poisonous".
I will give you some more of these in the next post and will also get back
to Male/Female Differences.Remember you can always ask me questions or give me topics you would like. I learned FLEXIBILITY from being a Teacher for 27 years!! These "posts" are kind of a loving "give-back" to teachers, former students and ALL ages!.
Mrs. B.
