Did You Know?

[Loafer]

A SHOT OF WHISKEY
In the old west a .45 cartridge for a
six-gun cost 12 cents, so did a shot glass of
whisky. If a cowhand was low on cash he
would often give the bartender a cartridge in
exchange for a drink. This became known as a
"shot" of whisky.

THE WHOLE NINE YARDS
American fighter planes in WW2 had machine
guns that were fed by a belt of cartridges.
The average plane held belts that were 27
feet (9 yards) long. If the pilot used up
all his ammo he was said to have given it the
whole nine yards.

BUYING THE FARM
This is synonymous with dying. During WW1
soldiers were given life insurance policies
worth $5,000. This was about the price of an
average farm so if you died you "bought the
farm" for your survivors.

IRON CLAD CONTRACT
This came about from the ironclad ships of
the Civil War. It meant something so strong
it could not be broken.

PASSING THE BUCK/THE BUCK STOPS HERE
Most men in the early west carried a jack
knife made by the Buck knife company. When
playing poker it was common to place one of
these Buck Knives in front of the dealer so
that everyone knew who he was. When it was
time for a new dealer the deck of cards and
the knife were given to the new dealer. If
this person didn't want to deal he would
"pass the buck" to the next player. If that
player accepted then "the buck stopped
there".

RIFF RAFF
The Mississippi River was the main way of
traveling from north to south. Riverboats
carried passengers and freight but they were
expensive so most people used rafts.
Everything had the right of way over rafts
which were considered cheap. The steering
oar on the rafts was called a "riff" and this
transposed into riff-raff, meaning low class.

COBWEB
The Old English word for "spider" was
"cob".

SHIP STATEROOMS
Traveling by steamboat was considered the
height of comfort. Passenger cabins on the
boats were not numbered. Instead they were
named after states. To this day cabins on
hips are called staterooms.

SLEEP TIGHT
Early beds were made with a wooden frame.
Ropes were tied across the frame in a
crisscross pattern. A straw mattress was
then put on top of the ropes. Over time the
ropes stretched, causing the bed to sag. The
owner would then have to tighten the ropes to
get a better night's sleep.
SHOWBOAT
These were floating theaters built on a
barge that was pushed by a steamboat. These
played small towns along the Mississippi
River . Unlike the boat shown in the movie
"Showboat" these did not have an engine.
They were gaudy and attention grabbing which
is why we say someone who is being the life
of the party is "showboating".

OVER A BARREL
In the days before CPR a drowning victim
would be placed face down over a barrel and
the barrel would be rolled back and forth in
an effort to empty the lungs of water. It
was rarely effective. If you are over a
barrel you are in deep trouble.

BARGE IN
Heavy freight was moved along the
Mississippi in large barges pushed by
steamboats. These were hard to control and
would sometimes swing into piers or other
boats. People would say they "barged in".

HOGWASH
Steamboats carried both people and
animals. Since pigs smelled so bad they
would be washed before being put on board.
The mud and other filth that was washed off
was considered useless "hog wash".

CURFEW
The word "curfew" comes from the French
phrase "couvre-feu", which means "cover the
fire". It was used to describe the time of
blowing out all lamps and candles. It was
later adopted into Middle English as
"curfeu", which later became the modern
"curfew". In the early American colonies
homes had no real fireplaces so a fire was
built in the center of the room. In order to
make sure a fire did not get out of control
during the night it was required that, by an
agreed upon time, all fires would be covered
with a clay pot called-a "curfew".

BARRELS OF OIL
When the first oil wells were drilled they
had made no provision for storing the liquid
so they used water barrels. That is why, to
this day, we speak of barrels of oil rather
than gallons.

HOT OFF THE PRESS
As the paper goes through the rotary
printing press friction causes it to heat up.
Therefore, if you grab the paper right off
the press it was hot. The expression means
to get immediate information.

[ringadingh]

Nice to know where some of those phrases came from. I wish I could trade ammo for a shot of whiskey today, it would be a bargain.

[Bud2rat]

That was interesting, thanks for sharing.

[id-man]

I was wondering about "bought the farm" just a couple days ago when it was said in conversation. I intended to look it up but got distracted and forgot. Now if I can just remember the story and I'll be quite ready for the next time it pops up.