England's greatest gifts to the language

 

1.       

In 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.

2.       Manu years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was for “Gentlemen Only”. Ladies Forbidden … and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

3.       Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a king from history:

Spades: King David

Hearts: Charlemagne

Clubs: Alexander the Great

Diamonds: Julius Caesar

 

4.       In Shakespeare’s time, mattresses were secured to the bed frame by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattresses tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase: goodnight, sleep tight!

5.       It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4000 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.

6.       In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts …. So, in old England when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them “Mind your pints and quarts’ and settle down. It’s where we get the phrase “mind your P’s and Q’s!”

7.       Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used to whistle to get some service. “Wet your whistle” is the phrase inspired by this practice.

8.       In 1896, William III of England introduced a property tax that required those living in houses with more than six windows to pay a levy. In order to avoid the tax, house owners would brick up all the windows except the six. (The Window Tax lasted until 1851, and older houses with bricked-up windows are still a common sight in the U.K.). As the bricked-up windows prevented some rooms from receiving any sunlight, the tax was referred to as “daylight robbery”!

 

Now there you have the origins of these phrases. Interesting, isn’t it.

 

God Bless whoever put all these gems together.