Posted on 03/02/2020 5:45:46 AM PST by sodpoodle
A SHOT OF WHISKEY' - In the old west a .45 cartridge for a six-gun cost 12 cents, so did a glass of whiskey. If a cowhand was low on cash he would often give the bartender a cartridge in exchange for a drink. This became known as a "shot" of whiskey.
BUYING THE FARM - This is synonymous with dying. During WW1 soldiers were given life insurance policies worth $5,000. This was about the price of an average farm so if you died you "bought the farm" for your survivors.
IRON CLAD CONTRACT - This came about from the ironclad ships of the Civil War. It meant something so strong it could not be broken.
RIFF RAFF - The Mississippi River was the main way of travelling from north to south. Riverboats carried passengers and freight but they were expensive so most people used rafts. Everything had the right of way over rafts which were considered cheap. The steering oar on the rafts was called a "riff" and this transposed into riff-raff, meaning low class.
COBWEB - The Old English word for “spider" was "cob".
SHIP STATE ROOMS - Travelling by steamboat was considered the height of comfort. Passenger cabins on the boats were not numbered. Instead they were named after states. To this day cabins on ships are called staterooms.
SLEEP TIGHT- Early beds were made with a wooden frame. Ropes were tied across the frame in a crisscross pattern. A straw mattress was then put on top of the ropes. Over time the ropes stretched, causing the bed to sag. The owner would then tighten the ropes to get a better night’s sleep.
SHOWBOAT - These were floating theatres built on a barge that was pushed by a steamboat. These played small towns along the Mississippi River . Unlike the boat shown in the movie "Showboat" these did not have an engine. They were gaudy and attention grabbing which is why we say someone who is being the life of the party is “showboating".
OVER A BARREL - In the days before CPR a drowning victim would be placed face down over a barrel and the barrel would be rolled back and forth in an effort to empty the lungs of water. It was rarely effective. If you are over a barrel you are in deep trouble.
BARGE IN - Heavy freight was moved along the Mississippi in large barges pushed by steamboats. These were hard to control and would sometimes swing into piers or other boats People would say they "barged in".
HOGWASH - Steamboats carried both people and animals. Since pigs smelled so bad they would be washed before being put on board The mud and other filth that was washed off was considered useless “hog wash".
CURFEW - The word "curfew" comes from the French phrase "couvre-feu", which means "cover the fire". It was used to describe the time of blowing out all lamps and candles. It was later adopted into Middle English as “curfeu" which later became the modern "curfew". In the early American colonies homes had no real fireplaces so a fire was built in the centre of the room. In order to make sure a fire did not get out of control during the night it was required that, by an agreed upon time, all fires would be covered with a clay pot called-a “curfew".
BARRELS OF OIL - When the first oil wells were drilled they had made no provision for storing the liquid so they used water barrels. That is why, to this day, we speak of barrels of oil rather than gallons.
HOT OFF THE PRESS - As the paper goes through the rotary printing press friction causes it to heat up. Therefore, if you grab the paper right off the press it’s hot. The expression means to get immediate information.
There, don't you feel smarter now?
Betcha Didn’t Know ...
The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for Blood plasma.
No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven (7) times.
Oh go ahead .. I'll wait...
Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes or shark attacks. (So, watch your Ass)
You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.
Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty (50) years of age, or older.
The first product to have a bar code w as Wrigley's gum.
The King of Hearts is the only king WITHOUT A MOUSTACHE
American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one (1) olive from each salad served in first-class.
Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.
(Since Venus is normally associated with women, what does this tell you?)
(That women are going in the 'right' direction...?)
Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.
Most dust particles in your house are made from DEAD SKIN!
The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer. So did the first 'Marlboro Man'.
Walt Disney was afraid OF MICE!
PEARLS DISSOLVE IN VINEGAR!
The ten most valuable brand names on earth: Apple, Coca Cola, Google, IBM, Microsoft, GE, McDonalds, Samsung, Intel, and Toyota, in that order.
It is possible to lead a cow upstairs...But, not downstairs.
(Why in the hell would you want to take a cow upstairs?)
A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.
Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least six (6) feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.
(I keep my toothbrush in the living room now!)
Turtles can breathe through their butts.
(I know some people like that, don't YOU?)
Remember, knowledge is everything, so pass it on......
Now go move your toothbrush!
The idea of ‘bits’ came from the time when coins were actually worth something, not because of what was stamped on them but because what they were made from, in the case of the Spanish dollar, silver.
The stamping added value only in the sense that it was the government’s guarantee of the amount and purity of the silver, but the value of the coin actually was in its silver. Hard to believe today, but it disappeared in the US in 1965.
Small change was rare, so to make it, the dollar could be cut into halves, quarters, and eighths.
The US dollar was modeled after the Spanish Milled Dollar as minted in Mexico City from a time when Mexico was a far wealthier nation/colony than the US.
Bought the Farm.
In the early days of aviation, plane were less reliable and would often go down. The pilots would usually land on farms and would have to pay the farmer for any crops destroyed. If the crash was very bad the pilot would “Buy the whole farm”; which was changed to “Bought the farm” if the pilot died.
I saw this on an episode of Hill Street Blues.
Someone took a cow upstairs in a apartment building and the police had a difficult time getting the cow down the stairs.
I don't know why an inner city denizen would bring a cow into apartment building. It was a TV show.
Tungsten is another name for Wolfram.
That’s one badass turtle!
The stamping added value only in the sense that it was the government’s guarantee of the amount and purity of the silver, but the value of the coin actually was in its silver. Hard to believe today, but it disappeared in the US in 1965.
I would also like to point out that this is why coins have a reeded edge. It was to prevent folks from shaving the edges, and thus lessening the silver content of the coin. You can easily see when such a coin has been shaved.
Mythbusters succeeded in getting eight folds in a piece of paper, but they started with a piece of paper larger than a football field. It was, shall we say, difficult to do.
I know some Progressive Politicians who have to, because their heads are located up inside there. . .
YMMV
When I was in flight school we understood that if you crashed your plane (whether you lived or died) it would always, always land on top of the prize pig, experimental and very valuable hybrid corn or something expensive along these lines.
Thus, you “bought the farm” which was the same fate if you died doing it.
It was that much when I joined up in '51. That was all the money in the world to a 17-year-old.
I saw a large snapper do that to another smaller snapper.
bfl
I have heard & read that “over the barrel” ref. to drowning victims, before. For what that’s worth.
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/sawbuck
SAWBUCK: NOUN
1. a sawhorse, esp. one with the legs projecting above the crossbar
2. Slang
a ten-dollar bill
A "fin" is a slang term occasionally used for a $5 bill. The term "fin" has its origins in both the German and Yiddish languages, in which the word is loosely related to the word "five."
In addition to the term "fin," two other popular slang terms used for the $5 bill include "fiver" and "five-spot".
Slang terms for money are often in reference to the appearance, features, historical associations or the units of currency for the banknotes or coins involved. In the United States, some popular slang terms used for money in general include dough, smackers, simoleons and duckets.
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