meako
Gold Member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2006
- Messages
- 9,951
Those are cool and interesting facts Rick.
here's another one.
The expression "shake a leg" originated in the Royal Navy sailing ships back in the days of rum,sodomy and the lash.Well the 16 & 1700s at least.
The crew were allowed to have women and wives on board -not officially of course but it was common practice if the captain gave the nod.
When on watch or at work times sailors were not allowed below decks -penalty- flogging.
The Bosun would patrol the lower decks to check for malingerers(of whom there would be many) Women of course were not allowed to be seen.
So if the Bosun came upon a hammock with someone hiding or pretending be asleep in it he would say "shake a leg!" perhaps adding a "ye scurvy swab" for effect.
The person in question would stick out their leg from under the nice comfy louse infested blanket. If it was a female leg all was well. If it was the leg of a sailor the marines would be summoned and the offender would have his back laid open by the Cat O Nine Tails (a nasty whippy thing).
The floggings took place up on deck because if you've ever visited one of these ships eg The HMS Victory at Portsmouth you would have remarked how little headroom there is in the gun decks.
Hence the saying "not enough room to swing a cat" nothing to do with animal cruelty-although these people were treated like animals.
The marines I mentioned were soldiers at sea taken on board primarily to protect the ship from the rebellious rumblings of the mutinous crew who were mostly pressed men and many of them Irish.
Another one for the many of you who dislike brass
-the brass monkey is the rack that the cannon balls were stacked on ready for action.) When the ship approached the high or low latitudes the temperature would drop. Brass and iron contract and expand at different temps. This would cause the balls to tumble off the monkey. But only if it's "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey"
-nothing to do with apes testicles though.
cheers.
Oh yeah and there 's another old saying which I think originated around near where I live probably last century(I love saying that)
"When the knife costs less than the postage price, Meako says words that are not very nice"
Not sure of the origins of that one -they are lost in the mists of time and Mt Keira.
here's another one.
The expression "shake a leg" originated in the Royal Navy sailing ships back in the days of rum,sodomy and the lash.Well the 16 & 1700s at least.
The crew were allowed to have women and wives on board -not officially of course but it was common practice if the captain gave the nod.
When on watch or at work times sailors were not allowed below decks -penalty- flogging.
The Bosun would patrol the lower decks to check for malingerers(of whom there would be many) Women of course were not allowed to be seen.
So if the Bosun came upon a hammock with someone hiding or pretending be asleep in it he would say "shake a leg!" perhaps adding a "ye scurvy swab" for effect.
The person in question would stick out their leg from under the nice comfy louse infested blanket. If it was a female leg all was well. If it was the leg of a sailor the marines would be summoned and the offender would have his back laid open by the Cat O Nine Tails (a nasty whippy thing).
The floggings took place up on deck because if you've ever visited one of these ships eg The HMS Victory at Portsmouth you would have remarked how little headroom there is in the gun decks.
Hence the saying "not enough room to swing a cat" nothing to do with animal cruelty-although these people were treated like animals.
The marines I mentioned were soldiers at sea taken on board primarily to protect the ship from the rebellious rumblings of the mutinous crew who were mostly pressed men and many of them Irish.
Another one for the many of you who dislike brass
-the brass monkey is the rack that the cannon balls were stacked on ready for action.) When the ship approached the high or low latitudes the temperature would drop. Brass and iron contract and expand at different temps. This would cause the balls to tumble off the monkey. But only if it's "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey"-nothing to do with apes testicles though.
cheers.
Oh yeah and there 's another old saying which I think originated around near where I live probably last century(I love saying that)
"When the knife costs less than the postage price, Meako says words that are not very nice"
Not sure of the origins of that one -they are lost in the mists of time and Mt Keira.
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