Some interesting historical truths behind English sayings

Do you ever use sayings such as “saved by the bell” or hear someone muttering something like, “Heavens, it raining cats and dogs outside!” A lot of people still do yet have no idea where such phrases originate from.

1. “Saved by the bell”

England is small – very small relative to the huge population at the time. But the death toll was high and gravediggers started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up old coffins, take the bones to a “bone-house”, and reuse the graves.

When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 were found to have scratch marks on the inside, meaning 1 in 25 people had been buried alive. To prevent this from happening they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground, and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the “graveyard shift”) to listen for the bell.

Thus, any unfortunate drunks could be “saved by the bell!”

 

2. “It’s raining cats and dogs”

The majority of medieval Brits lived in hovels that had thatched roofs with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip off the roof.

Hence the saying “it’s raining cats and dogs.”


3. “The rule of thumb”

Women had it pretty tough in the old English days. Husbands were allowed to beat their wives by law for anything that they considered to be disobedient. The only condition was the phrase “rule of thumb” (derived from an old English law), which stated that you couldn’t beat your wife with anything thicker than your thumb.

4. "Golf"

In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

Golf is one of a few ball games which does not require a standardized playing area. Actually, the game is played on golf "courses". These courses feature a unique design, however, each of these courses typically consist of either 9 or 18 holes.