Tri-Counties Genealogy &
History by Joyce M. Tice
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Words We Use |
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Bradford County PA
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Chemung County NY
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Tioga County PA
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Sorry, I finally found an article I had no appropriate picture for,
so I put up my wallpaper hidden wall switch which has nothing to do with
anything except how well I matched my botanically impossible wallpaper. |
| Article: Words We Use |
| Township: Town of Elmira |
Article by Helen Mac Dougall Samson (1909-1995)
1976
Sent in by Walt Samson |
Retyped by Debbie Hansen
Photo by Joyce M. Tice 05 APR 2001 |
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Joyce's Search Tip - November 2008
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Do You Know that you can search just the
articles on the site by using the Articles button in the Partitioned search engine at
the bottom of the Current What's New
Page? |
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CHEMUNG VALLEY REPORTER, THURSDAY MARCH 25, 1976
OUR HERITAGE OF FREEDOM
WORDS WE USE
Have you ever thought why we use certain expressions and wondered where
they came from?
A small knife carried in the pocket was called a "pen knife" because
a sharp knife was required to shape and sharpen the goose quill used to
do most writing.
A slang expression meaning to eat a meal was "guess I’ll go and put
on the nose bag." This phrase originated from the days when a horse was
fed his oats from a canvas bag draped around his head to prevent waste.
Another remaining term from the days of the horse was to "balk" at some
action or idea. A balky horse was one of man’s greatest irritants, and
after a second experience of a horse balking or refusing to move, the search
for a buyer was usually underway.
Another expression from early rural living was "he plows a straight
furrow" meaning he was an honest man. A worker might sigh at the end of
another twelve hour day and say, "another day another dollar," and pocket
the dollar and return to him and ten children he was supporting on this
wage.
But some things then and now didn’t amount to a "tinker’s dam." That
wasn’t profanity as the dam in question was a real one used by the mender
of pots and pans who used a bit of clay to stop the running away of the
solder he was using. They didn’t always work though, and sometimes were
not worth a "picayune." A picayune was an old Spanish coin used in Florida
and Louisiana, and its worth was about 61/4 American cents, and was also
called a half real.
Macaroni is known by everyone as a nutritious food, but back in the
1700’s it was known as an overdressed man. His laces and satins rivaled
the dresses of the fashionable ladies of the court. So, "stick a feather
in your hat and call him macaroni" was a gibe at the roughly garbed colonial
soldiers from the smartly turned out Red Coats.
The old song "Pop Goes the Weasel," came from a part of the early spinning
machine that held the yarn as it was spun. When full, it popped and the
attendant replaced it with an empty reel.
The term "upper hand," goes back to the days when knights used heavy
two handed broad swords. The hand located at the top of the blade was used
for guidance and so the upper hand had an advantage.
There are countless other terms and phrases that we use in our daily
communications that add flavor and colour to our daily speech. Without
them life would not be worth a dose of salt.
