Lest anyone be misled, these are all false. There are a million of these folk etymologies floating around the Internet, made up by folks with too much time on their hands. If you ever want to know the source of such phrases, the "Oxford Book of Idioms" is a good starting place. Jeffery E. Hume-Pratuch Editor, Fairfax Genealogical Society Newsletter -> -----Original Message----- -> From: Fairfax, Dan [mailto:[email protected]] -> Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 8:49 AM -> To: [email protected] -> Subject: [VAFairfa] OLD TIMES! -> -> -> FYI! -> -> Very Interesting!? -> -> Have a great week! -> -> Dan Fairfax -> Nashville, Tennessee -> ==================== -> -> INTERESTING INFO YOU MAY NOT HAVE LEARNED IN SCHOOL... -> -> In George Washington's days, there were no cameras. One's -> image was either -> sculpted or painted. Some paintings of George Washington -> showed him standing -> behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others -> showed both legs and -> both arms. Prices charged by painters were not based on how -> many people were -> to be painted, but by how many limbs were to be painted. -> Arms and legs are -> "limbs" therefore painting them would cost the buyer more. Hence the -> expression "Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg." -> -> ~*~*~*~*~ -> -> As incredible as it sounds, men and women took baths only -> twice a year! (May -> & October) Women always kept their hair covered while men -> shaved their heads -> (because of lice and bugs) and wore wigs. Wealthy men could -> afford good -> wigs. The wigs couldn't be washed so to clean them, they -> could carve out a -> loaf of bread, put the wig in the shell and bake it for 30 -> minutes. The heat -> would make the wig big and fluffy, hence the term "big wig." -> Today we often -> use the term "here comes the Big Wig" because someone -> appears to be or is -> powerful and wealthy. -> -> ~*~*~*~*~ -> -> In the late 1700's many houses consisted of a large room -> with only one -> chair. Commonly, a long wide board was folded down from the -> wall and used -> for dining. The "head of the household" always sat in the chair while -> everyone else ate sitting on the floor. Once in a while an -> invited guest -> would be offered to sit in this chair during a meal whom was -> almost always a -> man. To sit-in the chair meant you were important and in -> charge. Sitting in -> the chair, one was called the "chair man." Today in business -> we use the -> expression/title "Chairman." -> -> ~*~*~*~*~ -> -> Needless to say, personal hygiene left much room for -> improvement. As a -> result, many women and men had developed acne scars by -> adulthood. The women -> would spread bee's wax over their facial skin to smooth out their -> complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a -> woman began to -> stare at another woman's face she was told "mind your own -> bee's wax." Should -> the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term "crack -> a smile." Also, -> when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt and -> therefore the -> expression "losing face." -> -> ~*~*~*~*~ -> -> Ladies wore corsets which would lace up in the front. A -> tightly tied lace -> was worn by a proper and dignified lady as in "straight laced". -> -> ~*~*~*~*~ -> -> Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there -> was a tax levied -> when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the -> "ace of spades." To -> avoid paying the tax, people would purchase 51 cards -> instead. Yet, since -> most games require 52 cards, these people were thought to be -> stupid or dumb -> because they weren't "playing with a full deck." -> -> ~*~*~*~*~ -> -> Early politicians required feedback from the public to -> determine what was -> considered important to the people. Since there were no -> telephones, TV's or -> radios, the politicians sent their assistants to local -> taverns, pubs and -> bars who were told to "go sip some ale" and listen to -> people's conversations -> and political concerns. Many assistants were dispatched at -> different times. -> "You go sip here" and "You go sip there." The two words "go sip" were -> eventually combined when referring to the local opinion and -> thus, we have -> the term "gossip." -> -> -> -> -> ==== VAFAIRFA Mailing List ==== -> E-mail List Mom at mailto:[email protected] -> http://www.rootsweb.com/~vafairfa/ -> -> ============================== -> To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online -> genealogy records, go to: -> http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 ->