Where Piss Poor Came From | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 693071 United Arab Emirates 12/10/2010 10:55 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
SubarcticBeef User ID: 953574 United States 12/10/2010 10:56 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | You must really be dirt poor if you don't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. Large and Powerful [link to i154.photobucket.com] |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1136239 United States 12/10/2010 10:59 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
SubarcticBeef User ID: 953574 United States 12/10/2010 11:03 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | from a time traveling glp moran Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1136239With no brians. This is retorded. Large and Powerful [link to i154.photobucket.com] |
wisc_natureboy User ID: 1190752 United States 12/10/2010 11:09 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1179445 United States 12/10/2010 11:11 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 201927 United States 12/10/2010 11:15 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
nimbus User ID: 1112387 United States 12/10/2010 11:20 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1184028 Canada 12/10/2010 11:31 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
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tkwasny User ID: 1182758 United States 12/10/2010 11:51 AM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | In gay Paris, they used to piss and shit into a chamber pot, which was dumped out into the streets down below. Imagine having to look up in fear of getting piss and shit dumped on you! and the stench.....phew. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1184028Hence the reason for the wide and seemingly excessive hat brims of old. |
Pilot_007 User ID: 1018205 United States 12/10/2010 12:06 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Like the other stories in the message, it’s rubbish, of course. For a start, the expression is about four centuries less old than the tale suggests. The first reference in the Oxford English Dictionary is in a book by J Brunlees Patterson published in 1885, Life in the Ranks of the British Army in India. He suggested it was a term for the kind of generalised grumbling, the bending of the ears of junior officers as a way of staving off boredom, that’s an immemorial part of army life. It also appears in the famous 1891 British compilation Slang and Its Analogues by John Farmer and William Henley; it is likewise said to be of military origin and mean grumbling. The next examples we have are from the US, dating from the early part of the twentieth century. It became more common over the next decade on both sides of the Atlantic and weakened until it just meant idle chat. Mr Patterson also records the phrase chew the rag, which at one point he uses in the same sentence as chew the fat and which he obviously considered to be synonymous. This is a little older — an example is recorded in the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang from about 1875: “Gents, I could chew the rag hours on end, just spilling out the words and never know no more than a billy-goat what I’d been saying”. The OED has an example of 1891 taken from James Dixon’s Dictionary of Idiomatic English Phrases, which was published in Shanghai; the author glosses it as “to be sullen and abusive. A phrase common in the army”. Chew the rag is much more widely recorded from the US from about 1895 onwards than is chew the fat and becomes commonly known both there and in the UK in the decades that followed. The 1875 US example of chew the rag sounds like the modern meaning but the slightly later British ones are in the military sense of grumbling. This may indicate independent creation. The dating and geographical distribution of citations leave us with some unanswered questions, too. However, it looks from the evidence as though chew the fat is a modification of chew the rag. If it is, then the origin is probably in the US. But we don’t need to invoke any literal interpretations, either of chewing rags or fat. It’s enough to compare the steady chomping of the jaws in chewing with the mouth movements of conversation to see where the figurative sense came from. The image of a person biting down on something so uncongenial and unrewarding as a rag, like an angry dog worrying a bit of cloth, is enough to evoke the original sense of grumbling and discontent in chew the rag. Chewing a piece of fat would also require a lot of heavy jaw work and may have suggested a similar image. |
Pilot_007 User ID: 1018205 United States 12/10/2010 12:11 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Skeletons in the Closet It was once practice for doctors to illegally possess a human skeleton for teaching purposes. These skeletons were stored in a closet or cleverly hid in the walls of the doctor’s house. The skeletons usually were the remains of an unwanted infant. Cold Enough to Freeze the Balls off a Brass Monkey Sailing ships once had metal triangles called monkeys that would store iron cannon-balls. When it became cold enough, the metal would contract, thus permitting the balls to fall of them. Hold a Candle To Apprentices were often required to hold the candle while more experienced workers would work into the night. If an apprentice couldn’t even hold the candle steadily for those long stretches of time, they were considered lowly. Giving Someone a Cold Shoulder If someone ever had in-laws stay too long, they may learn something from this saying! When houseguests back in the day overstayed their welcome, they were given the worst part of the animal to eat. And, the meat was not warmed, it was cold. (The shoulder of the animal was usually considered the worst part of the animal). Read more at Suite101: 10 Surprisingly Bizarre Origins of Common Sayings [link to www.suite101.com] |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1132775 United States 12/10/2010 12:12 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | In gay Paris, they used to piss and shit into a chamber pot, which was dumped out into the streets down below. Imagine having to look up in fear of getting piss and shit dumped on you! and the stench.....phew. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1184028if i remember correctly they would yell out 'guardezlou' (sp?) gardez l'eau (or maybe: Gare de l'eau!) loosely translated as "watch out for the water!") which was used in medieval times when chamber pots were emptied from a window |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1188606 United States 12/10/2010 12:19 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | While the rich would party away and drink Aminita tea ( before vodka was common ) the poor would wait outside their doors for the piss, which the rich would hand over( the body processes very little , same for Psilocybin ) the poor would drink it and trip too. Got piss ? |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1188741 Canada 12/10/2010 12:20 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1067150 United States 12/10/2010 12:38 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1148092 United States 12/10/2010 12:38 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | In gay Paris, they used to piss and shit into a chamber pot, which was dumped out into the streets down below. Imagine having to look up in fear of getting piss and shit dumped on you! and the stench.....phew. Quoting: juniperoif i remember correctly they would yell out 'guardezlou' (sp?) gardez l'eau (or maybe: Gare de l'eau!) loosely translated as "watch out for the water!") which was used in medieval times when chamber pots were emptied from a window guardez-lou means keep toilet, or toilet keep |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1189185 United States 12/10/2010 12:48 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1190883 United States 12/10/2010 12:55 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Thanks, OP! I love to learn the backgrounds of the words and phrases which have crept into our language which we often use on a daily basis. You have provided quite an education today! and 5 stars. Hope some other posters contribute some more interesting stuff! Quoting: Anonymous coward 1186923I love to read stuff like this |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 201927 United States 12/10/2010 12:58 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Thanks, OP! I love to learn the backgrounds of the words and phrases which have crept into our language which we often use on a daily basis. You have provided quite an education today! and 5 stars. Hope some other posters contribute some more interesting stuff! Quoting: Anonymous coward 1186923No problem! Felt like getting away from all the doom for a little bit |
Anonymous Coward (OP) User ID: 201927 United States 12/10/2010 01:00 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Like the other stories in the message, it’s rubbish, of course. For a start, the expression is about four centuries less old than the tale suggests. Quoting: Pilot_007The first reference in the Oxford English Dictionary is in a book by J Brunlees Patterson published in 1885, Life in the Ranks of the British Army in India. He suggested it was a term for the kind of generalised grumbling, the bending of the ears of junior officers as a way of staving off boredom, that’s an immemorial part of army life. It also appears in the famous 1891 British compilation Slang and Its Analogues by John Farmer and William Henley; it is likewise said to be of military origin and mean grumbling. The next examples we have are from the US, dating from the early part of the twentieth century. It became more common over the next decade on both sides of the Atlantic and weakened until it just meant idle chat. Mr Patterson also records the phrase chew the rag, which at one point he uses in the same sentence as chew the fat and which he obviously considered to be synonymous. This is a little older — an example is recorded in the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang from about 1875: “Gents, I could chew the rag hours on end, just spilling out the words and never know no more than a billy-goat what I’d been saying”. The OED has an example of 1891 taken from James Dixon’s Dictionary of Idiomatic English Phrases, which was published in Shanghai; the author glosses it as “to be sullen and abusive. A phrase common in the army”. Chew the rag is much more widely recorded from the US from about 1895 onwards than is chew the fat and becomes commonly known both there and in the UK in the decades that followed. The 1875 US example of chew the rag sounds like the modern meaning but the slightly later British ones are in the military sense of grumbling. This may indicate independent creation. The dating and geographical distribution of citations leave us with some unanswered questions, too. However, it looks from the evidence as though chew the fat is a modification of chew the rag. If it is, then the origin is probably in the US. But we don’t need to invoke any literal interpretations, either of chewing rags or fat. It’s enough to compare the steady chomping of the jaws in chewing with the mouth movements of conversation to see where the figurative sense came from. The image of a person biting down on something so uncongenial and unrewarding as a rag, like an angry dog worrying a bit of cloth, is enough to evoke the original sense of grumbling and discontent in chew the rag. Chewing a piece of fat would also require a lot of heavy jaw work and may have suggested a similar image. You got one for Rain on my parade? :) |
BRIEF AND TO THE POINT User ID: 381742 United States 12/10/2010 01:02 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | So, where did the term "cum bucket" come from? Poor people do poor people things, and rich people do rich people things. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it! when you rob Paul to give to Peter ... ... ... you will always get Peters support! :Brieffromnativea: |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1188606 United States 12/10/2010 01:04 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous coward User ID: 1186923 United States 12/10/2010 01:24 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | What about the Aminita users in Russia in the 1800's ? Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1188606While the rich would party away and drink Aminita tea ( before vodka was common ) the poor would wait outside their doors for the piss, which the rich would hand over( the body processes very little , same for Psilocybin ) the poor would drink it and trip too. Got piss ? I have read that this was also the practice in South America. Apparently the shamans/priests were the only ones allowed to drink the "unadulterated" psychedelic preparations, then their urine was collected for "top-down" distribution to the tribe. Reminds me of that coffee in which the beans are run through the alimentary canal of some South American animal (ferret?) and then the undigested beans are collected from the - er - end product, dried, and ground. Very expensive too. Guess some people just have too much money, unlike the rest of us! |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1018964 United States 12/10/2010 01:32 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1180598 United States 12/10/2010 01:38 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 1162227 United States 12/10/2010 01:56 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
BRIEF AND TO THE POINT User ID: 381742 United States 12/10/2010 03:39 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | So, where did the term "cum bucket" come from? Quoting: Anonymous Coward 1018964I think your gay lover coined that endearing term in recognition of your "talents" Sorry, wrong number...I don't have any of those...please try again... Poor people do poor people things, and rich people do rich people things. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it! when you rob Paul to give to Peter ... ... ... you will always get Peters support! :Brieffromnativea: |
BeelzeBob User ID: 918411 United States 12/10/2010 04:20 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | This is cool....but [link to www.snopes.com] I'm not from Canada, not that there's anything wrong with that..... |