River's Rants and Reflections

Empty Pockets, Raid, Cats & Dogs & Other Weird Stuff!

Day 1367 - August 13, 2016

Ring around the posy - a pocket full of.. .. ..

What are you pockets full of?

Empty Pockets
I'm one of those weird people who don't use their pockets. If I have a bad cold I might put a package of kleenex in my coat pocket, but that's it. It makes laundry day a lot easier. You'd be surprised at what I can stuff in a purse, though.


Reviews
I'm taking a break from my routine today. Most of my reviews are for Newbies, but this weekend I'm reviewing for the SPECULATIVE SPECTACULAR "WdC SuperPower Reviewers Group"  Party Review Raid!! It's been a long time since I've participated in a Raid so here I go.



Cats & Dogs & Other Weird Stuff!

It's a dull, dreary, rainy day. It's raining cats and dogs!
How did that phrase get its start?
A torrential rain. As in, "It's raining cats and dogs. Which sucks because my hat is made of pure sodium."
Most say it came from ...
In the 1500s human beings had the pleasure of living in homes with thatched roofs which, keep in mind, had the ability to repel winds no stronger than a burrito fart. In these strange times, humans for some reason didn't want their pets pooping in their homes and so they were always kept outside. The animals would keep themselves warm in the little nooks in the thatching on the roofs and store their food up there for a rainy day.
When an especially rainy day did come along, the animals would either get washed off of the roof or would come leaping down looking for better cover. The story goes that the townsfolk would look out their window, see pets falling from the sky, and proclaim it to be "raining cats and dogs." Then they would probably burn a witch or something.

Other weird sayings and possible meanings:

Rule of Thumb
"The rule of thumb is one part tonic to four parts gin."
Most say it came from ...
17th century English Judge Sir Francis Buller, who allegedly ruled that it was A-OK for a husband to beat his wife with a stick, given that said stick was no wider than his thumb.

Bite the Bullet
Accepting something difficult or unpleasant. As in, "You're going to have to bite the bullet and admit you killed that hooker."
Most say it came from ...
When engaged in war there are times when emergency surgery is needed: Legs have to come off or deeply-buried bullets need to come out. And sometimes, there's no time for anesthesia when the Nazis are bearing down.
So, rather than stabbing a patient in the arm to distract him from the saw going through his foot, the surgeon would supposedly shove a bullet in his mouth and ask him to bite down.

Basket Case
One that is in a completely hopeless or useless condition.
Most say it came from ...
The supposed origin came about during World War I and was used to describe servicemen that had all of their limbs either surgically or explodingly removed--leaving them as nothing more then torsos that would have to be carried in a basket.

Bust Your Chops
To give someone a hard time. Don't bust my chops.
Most say it came from ...
There was once a time in the world when it was considered cool to sport a long, ridiculous pair of mutton chop side burns. From America to England, Russia to ... some other place even further away than Russia, the civilized global population couldn't get enough of these peninsula-shaped patches of hair.
Then, these people got punched in the face--their "chops busted," if you will--and an idiom was born.

Wrong End of the Stick
wrong end refers to a misunderstanding.
Most say it came from ...
As advanced as their sewage systems were, the Romans still had not arrived at the toilet paper stage. In their public toilets, the pooper would rely on a sponge or cloth that was attached to a stick which rested within a bowl that contained a mixture of two-parts salt water and three-parts nightmares.
After a person had finished discussing the days events with their constituents, all while becoming a few pounds lighter, they would request the sponged stick to be passed along to them. If they weren't concentrating on the task, they would end up grabbing the end of the stick that was covered in the poop of 50 other guys. This was considered grabbing the "wrong end of the stick."

As Pleased as Punch
To be very happy. As in, "Uncle Bernie is pleased as punch now that he has his cocaine."
Most say it came from ...
Apparently, the phrase spawned from an English puppet show that goes all the way back to the 1600s (Punch and Judy) which was written by a chemically imbalanced sociopath, or a 17th century Eli Roth. No two performances of the show were totally alike, but they all usually involved the same events.

Dead Ringer
An exact duplicate.
Most say it came from ...
This origin holds that a "Dead Ringer" was a person that was prematurely buried and is supplied with a rope attached to a bell with which to draw attention to the not-so-dead guy in the totally-for-dead-people box.
Through some research, we found that such a practice never actually existed, although there were instances of people being buried alive and there is actually a patent held for such a life-saving device.

Please take these explanations with a grain of salt. You can't believe everything you read on the internet.

That's it for today.
River