Certain phrases have crept into our common usage… we use them every day… yet their origins are often shrouded in obscurity… and in some cases their original meaning are very different from current meaning. I enclose herein a few of my favorites.
Come out smelling like a rose. This phrase goes back to Elizabethan England. The Rose was a London playhouse of high regard. Commoners (known as “groundlings”) would stand packed in the forestage to watch the performances. This was in the day when it was thought that excessive bathing was the cause of the plague. And it was rare for those of low estate to bathe more than once a year. Actor/playwright Wm. Shakespeare would observe, “you could cut that stench with a knife.” That magnified odor was thought to be emblematic of the playhouse in general, and the Rose in particular. Shakespeare said that he could pick out someone who had been to the Rose in a crowd of 100. Hence the phrase, “come out smelling like a Rose” was not very complimentary.
Cheek to jowl. This little piece of nastiness traces back to the 11th Century. The “cheek” refers to the buttocks and the “jowl” to the face. Telling a Saxon to put “cheek to jowl” in those days, was the way to say “kiss my ass.” As unpleasant an invitation in those days as it is today.
Happy as a Lark. Wellington Lark was a civil servant in the time of Benjamin Disraeli. He was posted to India as an Assistant Clerk to the Bombay Trading Company. His ship, the H.M.S. Valiant foundered while rounding the Cape of Good Hope. Clutching to a tally desk, he remained at sea a remarkable 83 days living off of droppings from sea birds that repeatedly confused him with a small atoll. He finally reached a small island in the Malay archipelago where local tribesmen welcomed him as their great God: Derma. To celebrate his arrival, 10 virgins were immediately sacrificed to placate him, the Tribal Chief presented him with three of his daughters to care for his every need, he was given a spacious cottage with an ocean view, a fancy canoe & unlimited use of the Royal latrine. The man never had a sad day for the rest of his life. When a shore party of the H.M.S. Steadfast came upon him decades later, they found a happy, happy man.
Up to snuff. In Victorian times bands of theatricals, troubadours, magicians and vaudevillians would criss cross the English countryside bringing their entertainment to town and village. One troop, the Henskilling Poetry and Circus Company boasted a man of unheard height… one Reginald Snuff who measured seven foot three inches in his stocking feet. More than one mother of the day was heard telling a troublesome child that an extra portion of pudding could be had if they measured up to Snuff.
Minks ‘n’ pinks. The Minxarpicks (jobbes costeria) is a member of the marmot family that populated the forests of Siberia. Since the dawn of man, the Minxarpicks was hunted for their fur which has been described as a cross between cashmere and the undercoat of the baby ibex. Their breast meat was also a delicacy that was prepared with a mixture of field grass, birch twigs and bear fat. English soldiers serving in Siberia during the Russian Civil War raved about the local dish which they referred to as “minks ‘n’ pinks”. When they returned to England they substituted any small animal for the minxarpicks of Siberia to make the dish. This “comfort food” was a known favorite of the Duke of Windsor, and writing from his French Exile, he would say that “Wally (Wallace Simpson) could turn out a fine minks ‘n’ pinks.”
Bean Feast. In the countries of Europe beans were valued for their medicinal value. During the time of the great plague there were a variety of folk preventatives that surfaced. It was commonly believed that toxins and poisons in the body had to be purged. In addition to the practice of bleeding and the application of leeches, it was also thought that foods that produced a “gassy condition” would be beneficial in ridding the body of ill humours. Meals were prepared around beans to promote farting. There are exquisite tapestries that depict banquet tables brimming with a variety bean dishes and casseroles. Henry VIII composed a famous ditty… beans, beans the musical fruit, the more you eat the more you’ll toot, the more you toot, the better you’ll feel, eat beans with every meal… Of recent, the town of Del Rio, Texas has a “baked bean eating contest” on August 15th. One unlucky year it rained on the 15th and the contest had to be moved in doors to Grange Hall. Shortly there after, after some pointed complaints, the Town Fathers decided to tear the building down.