RULE OF THUMB - A husband was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no wider than his thumb
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Top 10 common expressions with horrifying origins
#2
Suggested by
Tom Martin
BITE THE BULLET - Battlefield medics had no anesthesia, and surgery patients would bite on a bullet to deal with the pain
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#3
Suggested by
Tom Martin
CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE? - The origin is in dispute, but most believe it relates to either the cat o nine tails rendering a victim unresponsive or the practice of cutting out a victim's tongue and feeding
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#4
Suggested by
Tom Martin
EAT A PIECE OF HUMBLE PIE - An 'umble pie' was filled with innards and offal, the worst cuts of meat, and served to the least important attendants at a dinner
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#5
Suggested by
Tom Martin
DIEHARD - Some condemned men took longer to die by hanging than others, over the course of several kicking, agonized minutes
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#6
Suggested by
Tom Martin
MAD AS A HATTER - Hatmakers would use mercury on the felt linings of their hats, and would contract mercury poisoning that would change their behavior, making them seem insane
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#7
Suggested by
Tom Martin
BASKET CASE - In WWI, quadruple amputees would have to be carried off the battlefield in a makeshift basket.
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#8
Suggested by
Tom Martin
WRONG END OF THE STICK - Roman bathrooms didn't have toilet paper, they had sticks with sponges at the end. If one wasn't concentrating when passed the stick, he'd... grab the wrong end. Ew.
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#9
Suggested by
Tom Martin
PLEASED AS PUNCH - In the 1700s play Punch And Judy, Punch killed everyone, including his infant son and wife, and was delighted about it
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#10
Suggested by
Tom Martin
SAVED BY THE BELL - In a time when people were sometimes buried before they were dead, a string was left in the grave that would ring a bell up by the gravestone, calling for help
