Where
did "piss poor" come
from?
If
you're young and hip, this is still
interesting.
NOW
THIS IS A REAL EDUCATION
Us
older people need to learn something new every
day...
Just
to keep the grey matter tuned
up.
Where
did "Piss Poor" come from? Interesting
Story.
They
used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all
pee in a pot.
And
then once it was full 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
"didn't have a pot to piss in" and 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
1500's
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 the 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 threshold.
(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; “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!!!
So
get out there and educate
someone!
Share
these facts with a
friend.
Inside
every older person is a younger person
wondering,
"What
the heck
happened?"
We'll
be friends until we are old and
senile.
Then
we'll be new
friends.
Smile,
it gives your face something to
do!
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