Son of a gun seems to be a very strange phrase. A prevailing theory is that it comes from the 1800s, when British sailors took women along on extended voyages. When babies were born at sea, the mothers delivered them in a partitioned section of the gundeck. Because no one could be sure who the true fathers […]
A Spinster is an unmarried woman today, but once the word had a different meaning. Originally a spinster was simply a woman who made her living by spinning wool on a spinning wheel. However it was so common for single women to support themselves that way that by the 18th century ‘spinster’ was a synonym […]
I can understand now why they thought it was the end of the world – sitting in the dark for hours, day after day – it’s hard to imagine Sallisaw, Sequoyah County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma drought farmers. “Nothing to do. These fellers,” said one of them, “are goin to stay right here till they dry up […]
(Transcribed from The Centreville Press April 5, 1900, Centreville, Alabama) BERNAISE SAUCE Stir in a saucepan over the fire until jellylike the yolks of two eggs, two tablespoonfuls each of stock and oil; take from the fire; add slowly half a tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar, one chopped olive and half a tablespoonful each of finely […]
We often remember the Titanic sea disaster, but did you know there was a sea disaster that even surpasses the Lusitania and Titanic combined. Excerpts (in italics) are from The Milwaukee Sentinel Feb. 7, 1954, The Night 30,000 people drowned in the Baltic Sea by C. S. Forester. On 30 January 1945, 30,000 people mostly […]
A ‘Drop in a bucket’ means a very small proportion of the whole. The phrase comes from the Bible, Isaiah 40:15: (King James version) “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” Amazon.com – […]
Caught red-handed – To be caught in the act of committing a misdemeanour, with the evidence there for all to see. For hundreds of years, stealing and butchering another person’s livestock was a common crime. But it was hard to prove unless the thief was caught with a dead animal … and blood on his […]
A Well Treated Thermometer A prominent physician of Baltimore tells of an amusing experience of the early days of his practice when he was residing in a small town where by far the majority of the workers were miners. “I was greatly distressed at the unsanitary conditions prevailing in their cottages,” says the doctor. “and, […]
To ‘rack one’s brains’ is to strain mentally to recall or to understand something. The term is used whenever something or someone was under particular stress. The rack was a medieval torture device. The crude but, one presumes, effective racks often tore the victim’s limbs from their bodies. It isn’t surprising that ‘rack’ was adopted as a […]
In colonial days, candles were expensive and took a long time to make, so often reeds were dipped in tallow and burned instead. When visitors came, it was the custom for guests to make their exit by the time the lights went out. Therefore, if your host didn’t want you to stay very long, he […]
