euphemisms & sayings

[tufftie]

Just a few - how many do you know?

Dutch Oven....barking duck etc
It's healthy / good for you.

and the worst one..''there's plenty more fish in the sea''...and if mt memory serves me right always at the most inappropriate moment

[Jez]

I can think of plenty but a barking duck & dutch oven is something else entirely! What you need is a cork up your jacksy. Now that's a euphemism!

[naturegirl]

I can think of loads because i'm an old f--t these days!!

Led up the garden path relates to pig/sheep being 'led up the garden path' to be slaughtered.

Baker's dozen means 13 not 12, probably because they couldn't read or count. And one for luck I think is the same thing. (I remember collecting eggs from a local farm as a child and we always got 13 in case one was bad.)

Never rains but pours.

When making loose tea, it was 1 spoonful for each person and 'one for the pot'.

Red sky at night, shepherds delight, meant the next day would be fine. Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning, meant it would be bad weather.

Cows laying down in a field meant rain was coming, (strangely enough it was generally true!).

Naer cast a clout 'til May be out, meant leave your warm clothes on until after May.

Worse things happen at sea, meant you are not so badly off.

Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves. Self explanetary.

Naturegirl

[forfi]

Originally Posted by naturegirl

Naer cast a clout 'til May be out, meant leave your warm clothes on until after May.

May here most likely means the May or Hawthorn Blossom ( The Hawthorn is an important tree in folklore ] ,well anyway it sounds nicer than just being a boring old month

Worse things happen at sea, meant you are not so badly off.

I was at sea and can vouch for that bit being true

[Meta menardi]

Grandfather, of something well-intentioned but rather ineffectual

...Like giving a donkey a strawberry.

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by naturegirl

Baker's dozen means 13 not 12, probably because they couldn't read or count.

No, it's because for every dozen they baked for sale, they made a thirteeenth for their own family.

Here's a few more origins of sayings>

Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour. 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 sons and other men, then the women, and finally the children with the babies last of all. 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 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 four-poster 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 entranceway. Hence a thresh-hold.

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”.

[Paul mabbott]

Well, no one has actually mentioned a euphemism yet - odd since that's in the thread header!
Euphemism is the use of a mild or inoffensive world for something fearful or to make an offensive comment without the object necessarily being aware.

The classic example given in my first grammar book was, "She's no chicken.", inferring that, "She's an old hen."!

One of the Mitfords noted that USAmericans go into euphemisms in a big way for things "which are not spoken about" - thus a "slumber room" refers to a mortuary; "passed away" = "dead"! Other areas heavily into euphemism are the car industry ("pre-owned ...."), estate agents ("will benefit from renovation", "south of Chelsea" = "Battersea" ...) and, of course, the military ... especially the US military but that's a lengthy thread on its own!

[seamusagleann]

in my time when i worked at the ski lift,one of the guys was ex navy and he used to tell me a lot of our sayings came from the sea. the frame to hold canon balls was called a "brass monkey" and when it got really cold it would shrink causing the canon balls to come off ...this i think doesn't need explaining!!!. women were recruited to work the canons ,and human nature being what it is ,some of them would end up giving birth ,however if the father had been killed in action,they would name the child after the canon....hence ,son of a gun. if the sail ropes became loose it would cause the sail to flap about randomly ....three sheets to the wind. these are just a few i'm sure there is dozens.

[Paul mabbott]

Yes, lots of naval sayings. My favourite was, "Show a leg!". Before leaving port the bosun would say this to the men in their hammocks in the dark of their galleys (some of them might not have been able to stand up but could be assumed capable of dropping a leg over the side) - if the leg were hairy, that was okay but if the leg were smooth then someone might need removing ... being 'turfed out' - where did that expression come from?

Originally Posted by seamusagleann

in my time when i worked at the ski lift,one of the guys was ex navy and he used to tell me a lot of our sayings came from the sea. the frame to hold canon balls was called a "brass monkey" and when it got really cold it would shrink causing the canon balls to come off ...this i think doesn't need explaining!!!. women were recruited to work the canons ,and human nature being what it is ,some of them would end up giving birth ,however if the father had been killed in action,they would name the child after the canon....hence ,son of a gun. if the sail ropes became loose it would cause the sail to flap about randomly ....three sheets to the wind. these are just a few i'm sure there is dozens.

[Meta menardi]

Do you have a bathroom?

Why, you don't smell that bad.

I need a comfort station.

The railway has been closed for years.

I have to evacuate.

I'll get the car where do you want to go.

I have to pee.

Well why didn't you say so.

[demicav]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

No, it's because for every dozen they baked for sale, they made a thirteeenth for their own family.

Here's a few more origins of sayings>

Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour. 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 sons and other men, then the women, and finally the children with the babies last of all. 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 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 four-poster 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 entranceway. Hence a thresh-hold.

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”.

I've always enjoyed history and I really enjoyed reading your post, it is very interesting. Tell me more . I'm intrigued.

[snowdrop]

This line from Meta menardi's post made me smile.

Why, you don't smell that bad.

It reminded me of my brother who said, 'You used to be beautiful!'

[Tinkerbell]

Cheer up - it may never happen.

Usually said by some wally who is feeling down themselves. You may have been quite cheerful until the comment was made!

Tinkerbell

[nightshade]

I always thought that a Bakers dozen was something to do with weight of a dozen loaves, so to avoid a penalty the baker gave an extra loaf.

[Meta menardi]

One that is now rather out of date:-

Plenty more fish in the sea

But we have eaten them all.

[deer boy]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

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.

Who does the "The graveyard shift" now then

[thunder]

Quote
the frame to hold canon balls was called a "brass monkey" and when it got really cold it would shrink causing the canon balls to come off ...this i think doesn't need explaining!!!.
Endquote

I think this is not true - how come the cannon balls would stay on the frame when the ship was pitching and rolling? The amount of contraction of a brass frame would be pretty small! Makes a nice tale though!

henrya

[Les E]

HI Thunder,
Ive heard the of the rolling cannon balls as well,I think it was supposed to date back to the Napoleonic war.Another nautical one is the word posh it dates back to the old British steam passenger ships and means Port Out Starboard Home something to do with the location of the first class decks when the ship comes in and out of ports.
Regards Les.

[thunder]

Originally Posted by Les E

HI Thunder,
Ive heard the of the rolling cannon balls as well,I think it was supposed to date back to the Napoleonic war.Another nautical one is the word posh it dates back to the old British steam passenger ships and means Port Out Starboard Home something to do with the location of the first class decks when the ship comes in and out of ports.
Regards Les.

The POSH thing is another invented story - there is no evidence at all for it! Such a pity that all these lovely stories are just fiction!

henrya