Registered: Oct 2001
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I'm curious to know where some common sayings etc. orignated. I know one off the top of my head:
"Never look a gift horse in the mouth."
The way to tell if a horse is happy or not, is by peering into it's mouth, apparently. Thus, if you are given a horse as a gift, it would be insulting to check what condition it's in... Sort of like looking at a price tag on a gift.

What other ones do you people know?

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Registered: Apr 2001
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minding your Ps and Qs had some thing to do with pints and quarts of beer Ive been told.

Last edited by euphorbia on 02-07-2002 at 09:05 PM

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Registered: Apr 2001
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rule of thumb had to do with the way people used to make beer, sticking their thumb to check for temperature to make sure it was ok for adding the yeast with out killing it.

I know stuff about beer

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Registered: Jul 2000
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quote:

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Originally posted by euphorbia
rule of thumb had to do with the way people used to make beer,

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Registered: Jul 2000
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quote:

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Originally posted by bunkum


I heard it had to do with legal beating of wives! Something about the stick being no wider than the thumb. That's probably academic feminazi bullshit, though.

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Registered: Apr 2001
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could be, Im not going to pretend I know for certain

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Registered: Nov 2001
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The way you tell a horse's age is by looking at his teeth. The saying simply means that if someone presents you with a gift horse you shouldn't immediately open its mouth to see if it is an old nag or a young horse.

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Don't kick until yer spurred.

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Registered: Aug 2001
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'Toeing the line' refers to the lines on the floor on opposite sides of the house in the House of Commons, so that if people on opposite sides of the house stood behind said lines, they couldn't reach each other with swords.

Also they say that 'through on the nod' refers to the habit that the Commons gatekeepers had of indicating to MPs with a nod that they had been recognised and could therefore proceed into the House.

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quote:

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Originally posted by bunkum


I heard it had to do with legal beating of wives!

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Links about 'rule of thumb'

'http://research.umbc.edu/~korenman/wmst/ruleofthumb.html

http://www.uselessknowledge.com/word/rule.shtml

Loads more from google searching on 'rule of thumb origin'; they appear to say that the wife beating story from English Common Law, which I had heard too, is untrue.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Smug Git
Loads more from google searching on 'rule of thumb origin'; they appear to say that the wife beating story from English Common Law, which I had heard too, is untrue.

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Ye Olde English Sayings

http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/sayings.htm


An old English law declared that a man could not beat his wife with a stick any larger than the diameter of his thumb.

Comment from Lance: When brewing beer, the temperature at which the yeast is added is important. Too cold and the yeast won't work, too hot and it'll die. Before the days of thermometers, a brewer would determine temperature by simply sticking his thumb into the mixture.

Another possibility: As an artist, I always thought that this saying applied to the act of using one's thumb as a judge of scale. You literally use your thumb to act as a ruler to determine the scale of an object in your painting.

Peter wrote: the French word for an inch (puce) is the same as for a thumb. I wonder if the thumb was used as a rough reckoner for inches? Just a thought.

Anthony wrote: this has nothing to do with painting, nor is it anything to do with wife beating, which is just plain old down home American stupidity. It was used by bakers in judging flour, the flour being rubbed between thumb and fingers.
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I dunno?

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Los Angeles, CA
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Could someone please explain "Dog eat dog?"

Thanks.

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Registered: Jul 2000
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'Keeping your eyes peeled' - From when the world was ruled by the Arch-Demon Nemmonazzar and he used to peel peoples eyes and eat them.

So people had to watch out they weren't next.

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Right on, brother Goatboy.

"Hold your horses" - originated with Catherine the Great's prediliction for taking stallions into her bed for carnal pleasure.

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quote:

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Originally posted by missphinx
Right on, brother Goatboy.

"Hold your horses" - originated with Catherine the Great's prediliction for taking stallions into her bed for carnal pleasure.

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