December 26th 2015

Today is a day for just pissin’ about and we looked at the history of the development of certain Irish words and phrases sent to us by link recently and as I am seriously interested in the background of the more genteel elements of the Queens diction I decided to reproduce it in full:

 

In the middle ages urine was used  to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken and 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 were the lowest of the low and;
"Didn’t have a pot to piss in".

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 tolerable by June. However they had to devise some mechanism of masking the smell. The solution is still carried on to this day. The bride carried a;

“Bouquet of flowers”.

 

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of first wash, 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 thick thatched straw roofs, 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 when they developed;

“Canopy beds”.

 

Almost every floor was packed dirt. Only the wealthy could afford some other type of covering. 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”.

 

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big skillet pot that always hung over the fire.  They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat.  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." and “chew the fat”.

 

The wealthy had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing death by;

“Lead poisoning”.

 

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. Deadly combination! Someone walking along the road could take passed-out topers for dead and ready them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a day or two 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”.