Etymology - ish!

[rainmaker]

I'm currently reading a book called Timothy's book, about a tortoise kept in a garden a looooooong time ago. It's told from the torts perspective

I'm always quite interested in the roots of words, and the name of the Daffodil comes from daffy over dilly, which means (effectively) stupid over stupid

Amused me quite a lot - any other oddnesses, or gems?

[witham]

I have some books, one called, 'Why Do We Say It', another called 'Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep', and the third When a Loose Cannon Flogs a Dead Horse There's the Devil to Play, they're all full of the origins of words and phrases.

Dandelion for instance was originally called so because the jagged edges of its leaves were said to look like a lions teeth and it derives from the French 'dent de lion' or tooth of the lion.

I also have books on the origins of Lincolnshire words and dialect which because the county is so big can vary from one part to the other

[Billy Wobble Dagger]

Not wildlife related but I was emailed these this morning, don't know how true they are.

In the 1400s a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"

In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.
When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "good night, sleep tight."

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.

In pubs, ale was ordered by pints or quarts... when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down."
Hence the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

Years ago the ceramic pots in pubs had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle. When they needed a refill the locals used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

BWD

[naturelover]

facinating,alway wondered where different phrases came from,do you know any more as there are thousands of them ?