Archaic terms

I guess one might have their continental breakfast in the back seat of a Continental whilst passing through the car line at McDonalds.

What do people that claim to be continental really look like? Do they wear the ascot tie? The Gucci pants suit? Have on the Eddie Bauer gloves? Drive the up-scale Hummer? And do they really smile down on us?

My family (from So IL), used the term "Full as a tick" after a good meal.. My dh (from western Pa whos Mom said "Read up the house") thinks this is a disgusting term that speaks of a dog tick full of blood! So I have tried pretty sucessfully after many years to eliminate the term and did not pass it on to my children. I have heard it a few times from others and pointed it out to him!

How about "dizzy as a coon"? It was a favorite of my Dad's--he even repeated it several times on his deathbed. I askled him what it meant. The Iowa Farmers would trap raccoons raiding the hen houses. They would put the coons in gunny sacks & twirl them around. Apparently, it was amusing to watch the "dizzy coons" toddle off as if they were drunk...

Any one know the source of "beside myself" as in "I was just beside myself with worry"?
Pati

I've heard that a lot, Pati, but don't know the origin.

In my family, we said, "Screw up your courage..." which comes from Wm. Shakespeare's Macbeth, "Screw your courage to the sticking place."

Residents of my town are called cake eaters. Now I don't know for sure, but, this term is probably used in the derogatory sense.:)

Well I like all sorts of cake and generally all desserts too.

Does this have anything to do with, Have your cake and eat it too?

golddog... 2 thoughts come to mind. First one is whether it is a Catholic town? The wafers for communion were often called "cakes". (There are references to "Bible Thumpers" and "Cake Eaters" in the nick-names given to various religious sects.)

The second relates more to poverty. The nickname came from an old anecdote in which Marie Antionette (at the time of the French Revolution) supposedly was told, “The people have no bread to eat.” She is reported to have replied, “Well, then, let them eat cake!”

Hi darius, Three possible answers are: effete snobs, Americans unfamiliar with the Italian way, and affluence.

In our case, effete snobs of affluence fits the definition here. Especially the half of town nearest the river.

See: http://www.geocities.com/~ilionny/alumni.history.cake.eaters.html

"Let them eat cake"
the Empress said,
replied the masses
"Off with her head"!

One of my favorites is "out of sorts". Comes from when printers had to hand-set type and each letter or punctuation mark was called a "sort". So, if you were out of a certain letter, you were "out of sorts"; it might indeed make you grumpy.

My children have teased me about using "With your shield or on it" as being way too serious about your courage. This is the instruction the mothers of Sparta gave to their sons going to war. Never give up and let the enemy take your shield, rather to die fighting in battle and have your body born home on your shield. You know, they were right...using this phrase as they went to take their SATs was a little overkill. *g*
Pati

I heard that in the time of Antoinette, cake was kind of a gruel that no one ate but the animals. Thus, let them eat cake - let them eat the animals food or let them starve. I don't know for sure so don't quote me on that.
What about "He's such a ham!" Where does this come from?
Mobi

Mobi,
http://www.word-detective.com/061300.html#ham

Cheri'

thanks!
Mobi

Oh, if it doesn't, it sure should! Delicious.

I looked that up for a friend last year, actually. I'm off to find the good explanation I found back then.

I can't find the original site I sent her, but the others I did find seem to agree that the phrase connotes being carried effortlessly to Hell ~~ if you're conveyed in a handbasket, you're getting somewhere with little effort.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start=1&q=http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorh.htm&e=7704


This message was edited Dec 28, 2003 11:29 PM