Where did “piss poor” come from ? ~~~ Shared by Tudy Standlee (from our archves)

 

 

Where did “piss poor” come from ?  

Us older people need 
to learn something new every day..   

Just to keep the 
grey matter tuned up.

Where did "Piss Poor" come from?
Interesting 
History. 
  

They used to use 
urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot   

And then once a day 
it was taken and sold to the tannery...   

if you had to do 
this to survive you were "Piss Poor".
But worse than that were the really 
poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot...   

They "didn't have a 
pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.   

The next time you 
are washing your hands and complain because the water 
temperature 
  

Isn't just how you 
like it, think about how things used to be.

Here are some facts about 
the 1500s

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly 
bath in May, 
  

And they still 
smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell, 

Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.
Hence the 
custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted 
of a big tub filled with hot water.   

The man of the house 
had the privilege of the nice clean water,   

Then all the other 
sons and men, then the women and finally the children.   

Last of all the 
babies. 
  

By then the water 
was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.   

Hence the saying, 
"Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

Houses had thatched 
roofs-thick straw-piled high, 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 and fall off the roof.
Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs."
There was nothing 
to stop things from falling into the house.   

This posed a real 
problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings   

Could mess up your 
nice clean bed. 
  

Hence, a bed with 
big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some 
protection. 
  

That's how canopy 
beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had 
something other than dirt.   

Hence the saying, 
"Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get 
slippery 
  

In the winter when 
wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their 
footing. 
  

As the winter wore 
on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door,   

It would all start 
slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way.
Hence: a 
thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those 
old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the 
fire. 
  

Every day they lit 
the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables   

And did not get much 
meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers   

In the pot to get 
cold overnight and then start over the next day.   

Sometimes stew had 
food in it that had been there for quite a while.

Hence the 
rhyme:

“Peas porridge hot, 
peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old”.
Sometimes they 
could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.

When visitors came 
over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.

It was a sign of 
wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon."

They would cut off a 
little to share with guests

And would all sit 
around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of 
pewter.

Food with high acid 
content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food,

causing lead 
poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes,

so for the next 400 
years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided 
according to status. 

Workers got the 
burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle,

and guests got the 
top, or the upper crust.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or 
whisky.

The combination 
would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.

Someone walking 
along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for 
burial.

They were laid out 
on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around

and eat and drink 
and wait and see if they would wake up.

Hence the custom; 
“of holding a wake”.

England is old and small and the local folks started 
running out of places to bury people.

So they would dig up 
coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the 
grave.

When reopening these 
coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks

on the inside and 
they realized they had been burying people alive.

So 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, someone could be,

“saved by the bell” 
or was “considered a dead ringer”.

And that's the truth.

Now, whoever said 
History was boring!!!
So get out there and educate someone! 
~~~

Share these facts 
with a friend.
Inside every older person is a younger person 
wondering,

'What the heck 
happened?'

We'll be friends until we are old and senile.

Then we'll be new 
friends.
“Smile”, 
it gives your face 
something to do!