Did You Know? THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW- Comes from Matthew 7:14. In the King James version of the Bible, published in 1611, he says: ‘Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth to life’. The old English word strait meant tight or narrow but when it went out of use the phrase […]
DYK: Did you know? Translated from the old Spanish phrase “sangre azul”, blue blood derives from the Medieval belief in Europe (among other places) that the blood of the royalty and nobility was blue. Since the royal family and aristocrats were wealthy and powerful enough to pay commoners to labor in the fields for […]
The bitter end’ means the very end and comes from a nautical term. Anchor cable was wrapped around posts called bitts. The bitt end (or bitter end) refers to the final part of the anchor rope near to where the rope is fixed to the ship’s deck. Usually marked with coloured rags, the bitter end […]
LILY LIVERED – Means cowardly. People once believed that your passions came from you liver. If you were lily livered your liver was white (because it did not contain any blood). So you were a coward. The ancient Greeks used to sacrifice an animal before battle. The liver was regarded as a prime omen – if […]
Did You Know? CHARLEY HORSE: The origin of these phrase is uncertain. In America it dates from a persistent story that the original Charley was a lame horse of that name that pulled the roller at the White Sox ballpark in Chicago near the end of last century. Another origin is: In 1640, Charles I of England expanded the […]
In olden days, women used beeswax on their faces to give them the “white look.” They mixed the beeswax with a lead compound. In order to keep their faces from melting in the hot sun, they carried a gauze mask to put over their makeup to “Save Face” In front of the fire place, they […]
“Get the Sack’ actually comes from the days when workmen carried their tools in sacks. Before the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the age of mass employment, people who needed work done and had the means to pay someone else to do it would hire workers with the skills to do specific jobs. These workers […]
The 26th of December, also called St. Stephen’s Day. Boxing Day is a public holiday that forms part of the Christmas festivities in most of the countries that were once part of the British Empire. It was originally the first working day after Christmas Day, but is now always celebrated on December 26th, regardless of […]
