Thursday, September 06, 2007

Have you ever wondered where common customs or sayings originate?

Cast your mind back to England in the 1500s, where, according to folklore passed down through generations, these customs were apparently common:

Many people got married in June because they had just taken their yearly bath in May, and still smelled (relatively) sweet! However, as they were staring to smell a little, the bride carried a bouquet of flowers to mask any developing odour.

Hence the custom for brides to carry a bouquet.

The annual bath consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. the man of the house, as befitting his rank, took the first bath in the nice clean water, followed by all the other men, then the women, and finally the children. Last of all came the babies. By then, the water was so dirty you could really lose someone in it - hence the saying: "Don't throw the baby with the bath water."

While families ate mainly vegetables, sometimes they were fortunate enough to obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was therefore a sign of wealth if a man could "bring home the bacon".

4 comments:

Mamarita said...

Taking a shower once a yr, YUCK!!!! I can only picture what the water would look like by the time the babies got in...triple EWWW. Then again I probably was washed in dirty water as a baby in my past 3rd/4th life

Uzo said...

Oh...this is really really disgusting..Taking a bath once a year? Oh nastiness...

Ms. Catwalq said...

oyinbos are dirty men

laspapi said...

@ mamarita- were you white in that previous life, mamarita?

@ uzo- hehehe...

@ catwalq- reverse racism...