[fleamailman]

We could add that the romans used a stick with a spong at the end to wipe their....., anyway that is where we say (to get hold of the wrong end of the stick). btw Thomas Crapper wanted to show off his first public flushing toilets at the great Exhibition at Cristal Palace, the cost of which was one penny(going to spend a penny).

[footnote; true that the people in the 15th centuary didn't bath much if at all but if one asks a doctor today who has good skin and he will say "someone who doesn't bath much"]

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Son of a gun : After sailors had crossed the Atlantic to the West Indies, they would take the native women on board the ship and have their way with them in between the cannons. Some of the women the sailors left behind would have boys, who were called sons between the guns.

Minding your P's and Q's : Ale was served at local taverns out of a "tankard" ... you were charged by the angle of your elbow ... half-way up ... you drank a pint, all the way up... you drank a quart. Since the Quart cost so much more than the Pint, you were warned to "Mind your Ps & Qs"

Wet your whistle : Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used to blow the whistle to get some service

Frog in your mouth : Medieval physicians believed that the secretions of a frog could cure a cough if they were coated on the throat of the patient. The frog was placed in the mouth of the sufferer and remained there until the physician decided that the treatment was complete. YUK!!!

Rule of thumb : An old English law declared that a man could not beat his wife with a stick any larger than the diameter of his thumb.

Saving face or losing face : The noble ladies and gentlemen of the late 1700s wore much makeup to impress each other. Since they rarely bathed, the makeup would get thicker and thicker. If they sat too close to the heat of the fireplace, the makeup would start to melt. If that happened, a servant would move the screen in front of the fireplace to block the heat, so they wouldn't "lose face."

[frantique]

Son of a gun : After sailors had crossed the Atlantic to the West Indies, they would take the native women on board the ship and have their way with them in between the cannons. Some of the women the sailors left behind would have boys, who were called sons between the guns.

Minding your P's and Q's : Ale was served at local taverns out of a "tankard" ... you were charged by the angle of your elbow ... half-way up ... you drank a pint, all the way up... you drank a quart. Since the Quart cost so much more than the Pint, you were warned to "Mind your Ps & Qs"

Wet your whistle : Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used to blow the whistle to get some service

Frog in your mouth : Medieval physicians believed that the secretions of a frog could cure a cough if they were coated on the throat of the patient. The frog was placed in the mouth of the sufferer and remained there until the physician decided that the treatment was complete. YUK!!!

Rule of thumb : An old English law declared that a man could not beat his wife with a stick any larger than the diameter of his thumb.

Saving face or losing face : The noble ladies and gentlemen of the late 1700s wore much makeup to impress each other. Since they rarely bathed, the makeup would get thicker and thicker. If they sat too close to the heat of the fireplace, the makeup would start to melt. If that happened, a servant would move the screen in front of the fireplace to block the heat, so they wouldn't "lose face."

[dsenette]

Rule of thumb : An old English law declared that a man could not beat his wife with a stick any larger than the diameter of his thumb.

INCORRECT! http://en.wikipedia....i/Rule_of_thumb

[warriorscot]

You beat me to it, i dont know who i had that conversation with disproving the rule of thumb. It might have been on g2g i think.

[frantique]

I surrender to your geniusnesses!

[dsenette]

hmm...i wonder if i can find that thread scot...there was a poster that complained about one of us using rule of thumb..then johanna came in and corrected us all...

[warriorscot]

Might have been, think i also had a convo with someone on msn disproving that which lasted far to long only emphasising the geekiness if us both.

Think it ended on bascially that being the first written example of it, but recognition that that wasnt where it originated.

Edited by warriorscot, 13 June 2006 - 11:13 AM.

[fleamailman]

Where does OK come from?

[Johanna]

Flea, I thought I knew the origin of "Okay" or OK but when I Googled it I had to take a pause. There are so many plausible explanations it is probably impossible to say which is correct. I did read somewhere that "Okay" is the most commonly used word in a number of languages, not just English.

Funky Monkey, you don't live too far from me...do I need to come down and correct you personally? Would you like that? Some men have begged me to, because of my skill with leatherwork. Be very afraid. Or not, and it will be quite a party! (I just know you would like it...)



Johanna

aka The Leather lady

[dsenette]

wooohoooo!

[dsenette]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okay

[frantique]

* The first publicly acknowledged recorded use of 'OK' was by or associated with Andrew Jackson, 7th US President from 1829-37, to mean 'Orl Korrect', possibly attributed in misspelt form to him mocking his early lack of education.

* The first use of 'OK' in print was in the Boston Morning Post of 23 March 1839 by CG Green, as a reference to 'Old Kinderhook', the nickname for Martin Van Buren, (a favourite of and successor to Jackson), who was 8th US President from 1837-41, whose home town was Kinderbrook, New York.

* The African US slave languages 'Ewe' and 'Wolof' both contained the word 'okay' to mean 'good'. Slavery in the US effectively began in 1620 and lasted until 1865, so this was certainly an early American origin of the term.

* Probably even pre-dating this was a derivation of the phonetic sound 'okay' meaning good, from a word in the native American Choctow language.

* The American anecdotal explanation of railroad clerk Obidiah Kelly marking every parcel that he handled with his initials is probably not true, nevertheless the myth itself helped establish the term.

* Perhaps just as tenuously, from the early 1800's the French term 'Aux Quais', meaning 'at or to the quays' was marked on bales of cotton in the Mississippi River ports, as a sign of the bale being handled or processed and therefore 'okayed'. (The modern-day French public notice 'acces aux quais', means to the trains.)

* A similar French derivation perhaps the use of the expression 'Au Quai' by cotton inspectors in the French Caribbean when rating the quality of cotton suitable for export. (Ack GR)

* In a similar vein, women-folk of French fishermen announced the safe return of their men with the expression 'au quai' (meaning 'back in port', or literally 'at the quayside'). (Ack DH)

* The expression '0 Killed' was a standard report, and no doubt abbreviation to 'OK', relating to a nigh-time's fatalities during the First World War, 1914-18.

* In Europe, The Latin term 'Omnes Korrectes' was traditionally marked on students test papers to mean 'all correct'.

* The Greek 'ola kala' means 'all is well'. The Finnish 'oikea' means correct. Scottish 'och aye' means 'yes' or 'for sure' (from the Scottish pronunciation of 'oh, aye', aye being old English for yes).

* The Scottish expression 'Och Aye' was mimicked by the English in a mocking fashion, and this became 'okay'. (Ack JM)

* In the Victorian era, during the British occupation of India, the natives could not speak English very well, so "all correct" sounded like "orl krect". This was soon shortened to OK, hence our modern usage of the term. (Ack. Philip Holbourn)

[daniel_c]

from some jokes on the main post......than to some argument about led.........than something about "OK" man use guys are crazy..

Edited by daniel_c, 18 June 2006 - 02:33 PM.

[fleamailman]

Put that in its context, as long as it is interesting it doesn't have to be normal, threads here can often stray but as long as they remain interesting...

[street1]

Ladies and Gentlemen poor boys in a trance

Bow legged mosquitoes and cross eyeded ants.

I am here to tell you a story I know nothing about.

One fine day in the middle of the night two dead
boys got up to fight.

Back to back they faced each other took a sword
and shot each other.

A deaf policeman heard the noise and came and shot
the two dead boys.

If you don't believe my story is true ask the blind man
he saw it too.



Just a little riddle said during dead lead graveyard shift.

This is a pretty neat monkey y'all have trained.