[1595] in Humor
HUMOR: Just a few more useless facts
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (abennett@MIT.EDU)
Wed Sep 11 10:30:11 1996
From: <abennett@MIT.EDU>
To: humor@MIT.EDU
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 10:21:20 EDT
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 1996 23:40:08 -0800
From: connie@interserve.com (Connie Kleinjans)
In England during the 1400's, the wine was so bitter that a piece of toasted
bread was put in each glass to absorb the bitterness thus the expression "to
drink a toast".
In the sea port pubs of the 1400's, many sailors would spend their pay early
and want credit. The innkeepers would then keep a chalkboard for each sailor
receiving credit the was divided down the middle with one column labled "P"
for pints and the other "Q" for quarts. When a sailor was approaching his
maximum credit limit the innkeeper would advise him to "mind his P's and Q's."
And one more:
Salt (and just about any spice) was so scarce in ancient times that it
was one of the more precious commodities. People were frequently paid
in salt rations, and a slaves could buy their freedom if they could
scavenge enough salt. Hence the word "salary" from the latin for
salt, and the phrase "Worth his salt."
