Six of the Best: Part 1
Ever wondered why we go on honeymoon or eat sandwiches in the drawing room? Look at the fascinating origins of everyday words we never even think about:
drawing room
used to be the withdrawing room and the ladies did so after dinner so the guys could give each other lung cancer in peace and quiet (and smoke)
funny-bone
said to be a pun on the real name, the humerus, of the bone, or rather the attached nerve, that goes 'twang' when you hit said nerve and of course isn't funny at all
honeymoon
newly-weds used to customarily drink honey wine for the first month (or moon) of their marriage
foolscap
a 'fool's cap' was formerly used as a watermark when producing this size of paper
canter
medieaval pilgrims travelling to Canterbury would usually travel at a pace known as the 'Canterbury gallop', which is a bit less than a gallop
sandwich
after the notorious 4th Earl of S, who allegedly dreamed up the idea to keep him going at the gaming table
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Crawl On
The SNAIL
drawing room
used to be the withdrawing room and the ladies did so after dinner so the guys could give each other lung cancer in peace and quiet (and smoke)
funny-bonesaid to be a pun on the real name, the humerus, of the bone, or rather the attached nerve, that goes 'twang' when you hit said nerve and of course isn't funny at all
honeymoon
newly-weds used to customarily drink honey wine for the first month (or moon) of their marriage
foolscap
a 'fool's cap' was formerly used as a watermark when producing this size of paper
medieaval pilgrims travelling to Canterbury would usually travel at a pace known as the 'Canterbury gallop', which is a bit less than a gallop
sandwich
after the notorious 4th Earl of S, who allegedly dreamed up the idea to keep him going at the gaming table
______________________________
The SNAIL
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Hotch Potch English: The SNAIL ~ 'Lest We Forget'
Created & written by Sab Will
Copyright 2012 Sab Will / Hotch Potch English ~ The Unique English Language Website
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