Starting to change things up and educate the rabble on Hive. We need to know things and be smarter than everyone else. Most likely we are already, but here are some interesting things that you can baffle your mates with useless information as I bet they don't know this stuff. At least when you use these words or phrases you will know the true meaning.
We hear certain expressions today but in all honest truth we have no idea where they come from and just use them not really knowing the true meaning. Most of the sayings were actually a thing and meant something in their time and why they came about.
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Makes perfect sense the ropes would have to be tight otherwise you would have a sinking feeling.
Stupid things like when you put your kid to bed you say night night sleep tight. What is the meaning and origins of sleep tight? In many years gone by a mattress was tied on to the bed frame. The tighter the mattress was to the frame the firmer it was and why it was called sleep tight. Strange but true and doesn't make much sense to us today yet we still use it.
Another interesting one is daylight robbery. We see it as something that happens openly in front of you. It is just so obvious and why it is called daylight robbery. Where and how did this saying come about? It is kind of obvious as there are no tricks with these and they literally mean exactly what they are saying.
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Stupid when you think about it that people actually accepted this nonsense.
In 1696 William the 3rd (turd) introduced a property tax for houses that had more than 6 windows. Sounds like the bedroom tax that was introduced a short while back in the UK. House owners bricked up windows leaving their chosen 6 with rooms now being robbed of sunlight. Hence the name daylight robbery and something that lasted for over 150 years ending in 1851. Governments haven't changed much as they are always leaching for new ways to rob everyone filling their ill gotten gains.
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Another interesting word is honeymoon as this one is not so obvious. This goes back to the 5th century and as today is about a couple getting married. In those days a calendar month was based around the lunar cycle or moon cycle and the father in law supplied honey mead to the husband for one moon cycle. Honey mead is a beer and was thought it would help the couple be more fertile so they could possibly conceive over this period. Just maybe it is to drown his sorrows knowing what he has just done.
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Staying on a drinking theme how about "wet your whistle?" Many years ago pint mugs,the ceramic ones had a whistle made at the top of the handle. When you wanted a refill you blew the whistle so the barmen could see you wanted another pint. This is where wet the whistle comes from. Not that common today I must admit.
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A thumb is actually still quite thick, so a stick that thick could still do some nasty damage.
How about rule of thumb for our female readers of Hive. In the 1400's it was legal to beat your wife as long as the stick was no thicker than your thumb. I think that was fairly thoughtful of them unless your man was a tubby who had podgy fingers. I find it rather strange and bizarre that some of these things are no longer in use. We used to get jacked at school or beaten and only complained when the teacher picked up a metal bar on one occasion. Amazing to think people used to get away with such stuff.
Maybe you knew some of these things already but what I find is the trivial information tends to clog your brain and you never forget this stuff. If you forget something important in the near future then you know who to blame as you will most likely remember sleep tight or honeymoon lol. Have a great weekend wherever you are.