Historical notes

 

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. Painting arms and legs would cost the buyer more. Hence, the expression, "Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg."

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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. This guest was almost always a man. To sit in the chair meant you were important and in charge. The one sitting in the chair, one was called the "chair man." Today, in business, we use the expression/title, "Chairman."

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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 to "mind your own bee's wax." Should the woman smile, the wax would crack. This created the term "crack a smile." Also, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt, and therefore came the expression "losing face."

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As incredible as it sounds, men and women took baths only twice a year - May and 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. Thus came the term "big wig." Today we often use the expression "Here comes the Big Wig" when someone appears to be or is powerful and wealthy.

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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."

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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."

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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."

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At local taverns, pubs and bars, people drank from pint- and quart-sized containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who was drinking in "pints" and who was drinking in "quarts." Hence came the term "minding your "P's and Q's."