OT - Things you may have wondered about...

[Old Ironsights]

Q: Why are many coin banks shaped like pigs?

A: Long ago, dishes and cookware in Europe were made of a dense orange clay called 'pygg'. When people saved coins in jars made of this clay, the jars became known as 'pygg banks.' When an English potter misunderstood the word, he made a bank that resembled a pig and it caught on.

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Q: Did you ever wonder why dimes, quarters and half dollars have notches, while pennies and nickels do not?

A: The US Mint began putting notches on the edges of coins containing gold and silver to discourage holders from shaving off small quantities of the precious metals. Dimes, quarters and half dollars are notched because they used to contain silver. Pennies and nickels aren't notched because the metals they contain are not valuable enough to shave.

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Q: Why do men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?

A: When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich. Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right! Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through holes on the left and that's where women's buttons have remained since.

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Q: Why do X's at the end of a letter signify kisses?

A: In the Middle Ages, when many people were unable to read or write, documents were often signed using an X. Kissing the X represented an oath to fulfill obligations specified in the document. The X and the kiss eventually became synonymous.

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Q: Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called 'passing the buck'?

A: In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, called a buck, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal. If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility, he would 'pass the buck' to the next player.

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Q: Why do people clink their glasses before drinking a toast?

A: It used to be common for someone to try to kill an enemy by offering him a poisoned drink. To prove to a guest that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his drink into the glass of the host. Both men would drink it simultaneously. When a guest trusted his host, he would then just touch or clink the host's glass with his own.

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Q: Why are people in the public eye said to be 'in the limelight'?

A: Invented in 1825, limelight was used in lighthouses and stage lighting by burning a cylinder of lime which produced a brilliant light. In the theatre, performers on stage 'in the limelight' were seen by the audience to be the center of attention.

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Q: Why do ships and aircraft in trouble use 'mayday' as their call for help?

A: This comes from the French word m'aidez -meaning 'help me' -- and is pronounced 'mayday'.

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Q: Why is someone who is feeling great 'on cloud nine'?

A: Types of clouds are numbered according to the altitudes they attain, with nine being the highest cloud. If someone is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.

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Q: Why are zero scores in tennis called 'love'?

A: In France, where tennis first became popular, a big, round zero on scoreboard looked like an egg and was called 'l'oeuf,' which is French for 'egg.' When tennis was introduced in the U.S., Americans pronounced it 'love.'

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Q: In golf, where did the term 'Caddie' come from?

A. When Mary, later KNOWN AS Queen of Scots, went to France as a young girl (for education & survival), Louis, King of France, learned that she loved the Scot game 'golf.' So he had the first golf course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment.

To make sure she was properly chaperoned (and guarded) while she played, Louis hired cadets from a military school to accompany her. Mary liked this a lot and when she returned to Scotland (not a very good idea in the long run), she took the practice with her. In French, the word cadet is pronounced 'ca-day' and the Scots changed it into 'caddie.'

Now you know almost everything!

[Terry Murbach]

EXCELLENT !!! I ACTUALLY KNEW ABOUT HALF OF THOSE BUT THE REST WERE" GREEK TO ME."

[rjohns94]

kewl

[pharmseller]

I love this kind of stuff.


P

[CEMENTHEAD]

Thanks, I've wondered about a few of those....I'm more smartified now.......Thanks, Tom

[Retro]

So I thought this was going to be the urban legend one about threshholds and throwing babies out with the bathwater... but instead...

It rings true

(hehehe. Vision of old fellow walking next to train with a little hammer. Ask if you don't geddit

[kimwcook]

That's pretty neat.

[Rusty]

Not too sure on your source for the button question. I have always been taught that a man's buttons were on the side that they are so they wouldn't be likely to catch on a sword being drawn.

[Old Ironsights]

Not too sure on your source for the button question. I have always been taught that a man's buttons were on the side that they are so they wouldn't be likely to catch on a sword being drawn.

Which may be true in the case of Men's buttons... but the question was "Q: Why do men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?"

The answer didn't address men's buttons, only why women's were different than men's.

Also, FWIW, women's clothing had buttons well before Men's clothing did - except for those garments that button in the back... and even in men's clothing those buttons button on the Left as women's buttons do.

[2ndovc]

I remeber reading somewhere the phrase the "Whole Nine Yards" came from WWII.

Pilots returning from dogfights would say "I gave him the whole nine yards" meaning the full length of the ammo belts for their fifty cal machine guns being 27 feet long ( 9 yards).

Don't know if it's true but it sounds good

jb

[Blaine]

Not too sure on your source for the button question. I have always been taught that a man's buttons were on the side that they are so they wouldn't be likely to catch on a sword being drawn.

Which may be true in the case of Men's buttons... but the question was "Q: Why do men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?"

The answer didn't address men's buttons, only why women's were different than men's.

Also, FWIW, women's clothing had buttons well before Men's clothing did - except for those garments that button in the back... and even in men's clothing those buttons button on the Left as women's buttons do.

Zip it.

[Old Ironsights]

I remeber reading somewhere the phrase the "Whole Nine Yards" came from WWII.

Pilots returning from dogfights would say "I gave him the whole nine yards" meaning the full length of the ammo belts for their fifty cal machine guns being 27 feet long ( 9 yards).

Don't know if it's true but it sounds good

jb

Partly. While it IS true, a Scottish Great Kilt also takes 9 yds of cloth- and has been around longer.

[JReed]

I remeber reading somewhere the phrase the "Whole Nine Yards" came from WWII.

Pilots returning from dogfights would say "I gave him the whole nine yards" meaning the full length of the ammo belts for their fifty cal machine guns being 27 feet long ( 9 yards).

Don't know if it's true but it sounds good

jb

Partly. While it IS true, a Scottish Great Kilt also takes 9 yds of cloth- and has been around longer.

Great link OI.

[Ysabel Kid]

I love this kind of stuff.


P

+1 Thanks OI!!!

[TX50Cal]

What I really want to know is why do women wear a pair of panties, but only one bra????
Dave in TX

[Old Ironsights]

What I really want to know is why do women wear a pair of panties, but only one bra????
Dave in TX

For the same reason we wear a "pair" of Pants.

Trousers trace their ancestry to the individual hose worn by men in the 15th century (which is why trousers are plural and not singular). The hose were easy to make and fastened to a doublet at the top with ties called "points". It is important that at this point in time, these were not trousers, but trews, as can be seen in the 1746 painting by David Morier.[7][8]. As time went by, the two hose were joined, first in the back then across the front, but still leaving a large opening for sanitary functions. Originally, doublets came almost to the knees, effectively covering the private parts, but as fashions changed and doublets became shorter, it became necessary for men to cover their genitals with a codpiece.

By the end of the 16th century, the codpiece had been incorporated into the hose, now usually called breeches, which were roughly knee-length and featured a fly or fall front opening.

[TX50Cal]

OK OI, you know entirely too much:)
Dave

[Old Ironsights]

OK OI, you know entirely too much:)
Dave

My Google-fu is strong...

I remember just enough to be able to look up the correct details.