Piss Poor & Etc.

[JohnnyDos]

Please read the explanation of piss poor before you delete this,

you might find it interesting.
Where did "piss poor" come from?
NOW THIS IS A REAL EDUCATION
Us older people need to learn something new every day...

Just to keep the grey matter tuned up.

Where did "Piss Poor" come from? Interesting history.

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all

pee in a pot.

And then once it was full it was taken and sold to the tannery...

if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor".

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even

afford to buy a pot...
They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.
The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the

water temperature

Isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.
Here are some facts about the 1500's
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath

in May,

And they still smelled pretty good by June.. However, since they

were starting to smell,

brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.

Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.

The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water,

Then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the

children.

Last of all the babies.

By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in

it.

Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!"
Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood

underneath.

It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and

other small animals

(mice, bugs) lived in the roof.

When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would

slip and fall off the roof.

Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.

This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other

droppings

Could mess up your nice clean bed.

Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded

some protection.

That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.

Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that

would get slippery

In the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor

to help keep their footing..
As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you

opened the door,

It would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in

the entrance-way.

Hence: a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle

that always hung over the fire
Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate

mostly vegetables

And did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner,

leaving leftovers

In the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day..
Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a

while.Hence the rhyme:
? Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot

nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite

special.
When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show

off.It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon."
They would cut off a little to share with guests
And would all sit around and chew the fat.Those with money had plates made of pewter.
Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto
the food, causing lead poisoning death.This happened most often with tomatoes,
so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status..
Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle,
and guests got the top, or the upper crust.Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky.
The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.
someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and
the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.
S

Hence the custom; ? holding a wake."

 

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of

places to bury people.

 

So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-

house, and reuse the grave.

 

When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to

have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had ben

burying people alive.

So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it

through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.

 

Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the

graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someo ne could be,

? saved by the bell" or was "considered a dead ringer."

 

And that's the truth.

 

Now, whoever said history was boring!!!

 

So get out there and educate someone!

Share these facts with a friend.

Inside every older person is a younger person wondering,

"What the heck happened?"

We'll be friends until we are old and senile.

Then we'll be new friends.

 

Smile, it gives your face something to do!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HarryWeezer]

Most interesting Johnny. Thanks for sharing.

[Sonovabich]

Them lucky bastards had a bath every May? they didn't know they were born

One of them rhymes Johnny actually goes like this over here where i live

"Pease pudding hot, pease pudding cold, pease pudding in the pot nine days old.

I tried to educate some about Pease pudding, even some Brits have not heard of it, bit of a North East England secret, every butchers shop and supermarket sell it where i live, have a ham sandwich and spread Pease pudding on the Ham...bloody gorgeous, or heat it up in the oven or fry it and have it with Gammon, or even black pudding and savoury duck, drop in a Greggs sausage roll and it is a feast.

http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/recipebook/index.php?option=com_rapidrecipe&page=viewrecipe&recipe_id=790&Itemid=28

http://www.rhymes.org.uk/pease_pudding.htm

http://www.blunham.demon.co.uk/Yorksgen/Recipes/Meat/index.html?oo=10000532

Edited February 12, 2013 by Sonovabich

[Labob]

love it thanks Johhny here's mine. You have port side and starboard side. yes thats right the side of the ship that tied up to the dock  was the port side and if you wanted to look at the stars you went to the other side

[TBB]

Nice - thanks

[Brick]

Good stuff, fun read. My grey matter feels better already

[Blackbart]

It's nice to learn new things at my advanced age...Because of my advanced age I will forget everything I just read by this evening...Tommorrow I will re-read this and learn it all over again...LOL... :)