Show off your knowledge

[Val]

Ladies wore corsets, which would lace up in the front. A proper and dignified woman, as in "straight laced," wore a tightly tied lace.

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Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax levied when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the "Ace of Spades." To avoid paying the tax, people would purchase 51 cards instead.

Yet, since most games require 52 cards, these people were thought to be stupid or dumb because they weren't "playing with a full deck."

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Early politicians required feedback from the public to determine what the people considered important. Since there were no telephones, TV's or radios the politicians sent their assistants to local taverns, pubs, and bars. They were told to "go sip some ale" and listen to people's conversations and political concerns. Many assistants were dispatched at different times. You go sip here" and "You go sip there." The two words "go sip" were eventually combined when referring to the local opinion and, thus we have the term "gossip."

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At local taverns, pubs, and bars, people drank from pint and quart-sized containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and remember who was drinking in "pints" and who was drinking in "quarts," hence the term minding your "P's and Q's."



Thought these bits of useless information might come in handy if you have a 'know all' guest..
That'll fix 'em.... ;)

[Val]

[eileen]

Loved those Val - any more??  :D

Just the kind of thing to 'drop' into conversation when someone is showing off!!

Eileen.

[Spurdie]

Always thought you were a fountain of knowledge, Val!  :D Got any more?

[Roy Bham UK]

Those were cool Val, although I spotted another version of the P’s n Q’s
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Question -   What is the meaning and origin of "p's and q's"?
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When type was set by hand, these lower case (as in lower printing case)
letters are mirror images of each other.  The expression was reminding you
to be careful not to switch them.  b and d are another such pair, but are
separated by the c bin.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
I saw this one being explained on TV, “Flash in the Pan” refers to the musket gun, it is when the safety catch or flint lock was on so if the trigger was pulled accidentally it would cause a flash in the pan and not ignite the gun powder. 8)

[Val]

 ;DHere's some more
Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct
order, as does arsenious, meaning "containing arsenic."

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The word "Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah
Mat," which means "the king is dead".

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Pinocchio is Italian for "pine head."

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Eskimoes have hundreds of words for ice but none for hello.

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The Q is the only letter that does not appear in the names of
the 50 states.

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The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford
English Dictionary, is:
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
The only other word with the same amount of letters is:
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses,
its plural.
It's an infection of the lungs.

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Hydroxydesoxycorticosterone and hydroxydeoxycorticosterones are
the largest anagrams.

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The Baby Ruth candy bar was actually named after Grover
Cleveland's baby daughter, Ruth.

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There is no word in the English language that rhymes with month,
orange, silver, and purple.

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Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina
de los Angeles de Porciuncula"-and can be abbreviated to 3.63%
of its size: "L.A."

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Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted
people without killing them use to burn their houses down -
hence the  expression "to get fired."

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Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village".

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The most common name in the world is Mohammed.

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The national anthem of Greece has 158 verses. No one in Greece
has memorized all 158 verses.

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The word "samba" means "to rub navels together."

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The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law
which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider
than your thumb.
Roy ???...I copied them out mate...I didn't say I understood them..hope none are duplicated.

[Spurdie]

Can't BELIEVE I am sitting here thinking of a word to rhyme with "orange"! What a numpty!  ::)

[Val]

 ;DYes and if you get a guest like Roy....tell him to pronounce the longest word...lol...with a bit of luck that'll shut him up , if not resort to a long ago clan.... :D