Are you bringing home the bacon or part of the upper crust? These sayings originated hundreds of years ago and their origins will blow your mind!
Isaiah Hart wrote a lengthy post explaining how most of todays sayings started. We read through the post and couldn’t believe how they originated. It is incredible how even though hundreds of years have passed, the sayings are still around today. It isn’t only sayings that stuck, but traditions as well.
These are some of the coolest ones we found in Isaiah’s post.
A brides bouquet of flowers.
In the 1500’s people only bathed once a year so they used to get married shortly after their annual bath.
“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.”
Bringing home the bacon/ chewing the fat.
Most families couldn’t afford meat but if a man did really well and was able to afford pork, they would hang it in the home to show the status of the family.
“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.”
Holding a wake.
The modern day custom of hosting a wake was born from the fact that people would pass out drunk for days on end. The family would lay them out and watch them to be sure if they were dead or not.
“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.”
The Graveyard shift/ saved by the bell / dead ringer.
In the very old days, they ran out of space to bury people and had to dig up old graves. In doing this they realised they were burying people alive as the coffins had scratch marks on the inside. This led them to tie bells on graves of the recently deceased.
“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.”
Dirt Poor
The saying dirt poor literally came from the fact that the poor had dirt floors instead of the alternative. The saying “Piss Poor” comes from the same thinking except way back then, poor families would collect their urine and sell it to the tannery. The urine was used to tan animal skins.
“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 entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold.”
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