The Write Direction: Pondering life and meaning

I WAS recently reminded that “by the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he is often too old to go anywhere”.

As you get older, three things happen.

First is that your memory goes, but I can’t remember the other two.

So, I thought that it must be time to look at life and ponder a few things.

In my research I came across a number of explanations for popular expressions/words – how many do you think are true?

– In the 15th Century in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled that the game was for “Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden”. Thus, the word GOLF entered into the English language.

– In Shakespeare’s time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the saying “goodnight, sleep tight.”

– It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4000 years ago that for the month after a wedding, the bride’s father would supply his new son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a beer made from honey and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month. We now know it as the honeymoon period.

– In old England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the handle on their ceramic mugs. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get more service. “Wet your whistle” is now a phrase used in everyday conversation and was inspired by this practice.

– In 1696, William III of England introduced a property tax that required those living in houses with more than six windows, pay a financial levy. In order to avoid paying that tax, the house owners would brick up all the windows except for six; some of those properties can still be seen today. As these bricked up windows prevented some rooms from receiving any sunlight, this tax was referred to as “daylight robbery”.

It is important to remember that 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up.

By John BLACKBOURN