common words and phrases, and where they came from Options

[esharp]

Many people wonder where most words and phrases were derived from. Here are a few of them and how these words/phrases came about through history. I thought these were very interesting, some were actually pretty funny to me...
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1. In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes, the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. That's where the phrase, "goodnight, sleep tight" came from.

2. It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the honeymoon."

3. In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's."

4. Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. Then they needed refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle," is the phrase inspired by this practice.

5. In ancient England, a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby, they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.*.*.*.(Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it. Now you know where that came from.

6. In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden....and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

[elmogurly]

wow. that's all i can say.