'Etymology' : The origin of a word and the historical development of it's meaning.
Have you ever wondered where certain sayings come from? Well, it's Friday night, and we of course live in Winslow, so after a couple of glasses of wine, we somehow got off onto the topic of where a certain saying came from. That discussion naturally led to the origin of another saying, that sparked another saying and another, so we spent the evening researching and this is what we came up with.
"Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining" - The phrase, as far as we can tell, came from the baddest bitch on Court TV, Judge Judy Scheindlin, but it looks like the original quote was actually, "Don't go pissing down my back and tell me it's raining" and this appeared in the Clint Eastwood movie, The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976).
Either way, it's a pretty funny saying.
"Put it on the back burner" (this is actually what started out our little tirade tonight) - Most people probably assumed that this came from cooking, and as far as I could find, you're right! The funny thing that caused us to consider the meaning a little further was that, for some reason, we have one back burner that we could have on high and it just doesn't get that hot. So, in the process of cooking, Damon said something like, "oh just put it on the back burner, it will boil", and I looked at him and said, "Yeah, it'll just take an hour". Damon had the thought that perhaps all stove's back burners just don't get as hot, and that's where it came from (keep in mind that I mentioned we had been drinking before this point). Anyway, I figure it's because we didn't fully connect it last time we cleaned it, or it's just broken , but we went ahead and looked it up anyway and the explanation was simply that things you need to constantly stir or keep a close eye on should be closer to you and the things that don't need immediate attention can be "put on the back burner". BUT I did find a few references to putting a pot on the back burner just to keep in warm which I guess could lead you to think that the back burners don't get as hot as the front :-)
"Rule of Thumb" - Most say that it came from 17th Century English Judge, Sir Francis Buller, who basically said it was okay for a husband to beat his wife with a stick, but just as long as it was no wider than his thumb. There doesn't seem to be any documentation to support this, but it's interesting. Another I found, stating it as the earliest citation, was J. Durham's Heaven Upon Earth in 1685, "Many profess Christians are like foolish builders, who build by guess, and by rule of thumb", which supports some other's guess's that carpenters and tailors who didn't have a ruler, would measure by their thumbs.
Good night all.....
"Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining" - The phrase, as far as we can tell, came from the baddest bitch on Court TV, Judge Judy Scheindlin, but it looks like the original quote was actually, "Don't go pissing down my back and tell me it's raining" and this appeared in the Clint Eastwood movie, The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976).
Either way, it's a pretty funny saying.
"Put it on the back burner" (this is actually what started out our little tirade tonight) - Most people probably assumed that this came from cooking, and as far as I could find, you're right! The funny thing that caused us to consider the meaning a little further was that, for some reason, we have one back burner that we could have on high and it just doesn't get that hot. So, in the process of cooking, Damon said something like, "oh just put it on the back burner, it will boil", and I looked at him and said, "Yeah, it'll just take an hour". Damon had the thought that perhaps all stove's back burners just don't get as hot, and that's where it came from (keep in mind that I mentioned we had been drinking before this point). Anyway, I figure it's because we didn't fully connect it last time we cleaned it, or it's just broken , but we went ahead and looked it up anyway and the explanation was simply that things you need to constantly stir or keep a close eye on should be closer to you and the things that don't need immediate attention can be "put on the back burner". BUT I did find a few references to putting a pot on the back burner just to keep in warm which I guess could lead you to think that the back burners don't get as hot as the front :-)
"Rule of Thumb" - Most say that it came from 17th Century English Judge, Sir Francis Buller, who basically said it was okay for a husband to beat his wife with a stick, but just as long as it was no wider than his thumb. There doesn't seem to be any documentation to support this, but it's interesting. Another I found, stating it as the earliest citation, was J. Durham's Heaven Upon Earth in 1685, "Many profess Christians are like foolish builders, who build by guess, and by rule of thumb", which supports some other's guess's that carpenters and tailors who didn't have a ruler, would measure by their thumbs.
Good night all.....
Just for fun:
Bought $58.70 worth of food and household items, but after coupons and sales: Spent $43.45 out of pocket, most of which was produce and items I found on clearance, so I actually brought home a mess load of stuff!
Bought $58.70 worth of food and household items, but after coupons and sales: Spent $43.45 out of pocket, most of which was produce and items I found on clearance, so I actually brought home a mess load of stuff!
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