Sons In
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Amador County Branch 96 - Jackson, California |
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OXEN’S TALE #7 DID YOU KNOW? By Frank Tortorich
I thought it would be fun to do a few “Did You Know” statements for December. DID YOU KNOW: That “Going to town with bells on” came from the horse and wagon days. To put on your best clothes and your best horse harness, which included several bells mounted on the horse harness, was to show off your very best. That “lock, stock, and barrel,” came from the flintlock rifle. It consisted of three individual parts. The lock, which was the firing mechanism, the stock or wooden part, and of course the barrel. When you put them all together, you were done. That “rule of thumb” came from the flourmill. When the boss came to check out the flour as it was coming out of the mill, he would take a pinch of flour and rub it between his thumb and finger to test it for fineness. That “gone to pot” came from the candle making process. When the candle burned down to a stub, the stub was returned to the pot to be melted and reused. Or, for some of us it is what happens to our stomach when we drink too much beer. Some of these old expressions have more than one meaning such as “flash in the pan.” It could mean the grease in the skillet catching fire and it could mean when firing a flintlock rifle that the powder in the pan flashed but it did not ignite anything. In most cases, there was a lot of action going with little results. Happy Holidays. |
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