Where did we get the expression "mad as a Hatter"?
Where did we get the expression "mad as a Hatter"?
Some of us laugh
Some of us cry
Some of us smoke
Some of us lie
But it's all just the way
that we cope with our lives...
I have no idea??? I want to know too
Hmm, we think that this has got something to do with the fact that hatters used mercury for their job, which is poisonous and made them freaky - mad. The expression existed long before Carroll, but we think that he made it more famous.
If you believe even a half of this post, you are severely mistaken.
thats what i was thinking that it has something to do with the profession
Trying to forget someone you love is like trying to remember someone you have never met.
Me me me oh wow I have a book on this...
And this has got to be one of my longest posts everOriginally Posted by "Red herrings and White Elephants; The origins of the phrases we use everyday" By Albert Jack
(after prievew ) or maybe not ....
ps this book is A-mazing
Last edited by Nightshade; 09-26-2005 at 04:42 AM. Reason: forgot distinictive hat in the bit about Robert crab!!
My mission in life is to make YOU smile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Very well done Nightshade!
You get a chorus line of dancing bug eyed yellow thingeys.
Very industrious answer of precise origins!
"I am glad to learn my friend that you had not yet submitted yourself to any of the mouldy laws of Literature."
-John Muir
"My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends - It gives a lovely light"
-Edna St. Vincent Millay
Well done! I had hoped to catch a few with that one, but the egg is on my face! And there's your next phraze: Where did we get the phraze "you've got egg on your face"?
Some of us laugh
Some of us cry
Some of us smoke
Some of us lie
But it's all just the way
that we cope with our lives...
ohh guess what this is also in my book
Okay now I have a q where does brass monkeys come from? Thats not in my book even though he says on theecover that he will explain it he doesnt which is a bit annoying as Ive always wondered about that one.Originally Posted by red herrings and white elephants
*edit* It appears I just told a lie I found it under its full name that is "Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" still it would be fun to find oput who else is under the missaprhension as to the origin and meaning of theis phrase
Last edited by Nightshade; 09-26-2005 at 09:59 AM.
My mission in life is to make YOU smile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The time has come," the Walrus said,"To talk of many things:
Forum Rules- You know you want to read 'em
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|currently reading
That one I don't have. BTW, nice smiley! Don't keep us in suspense!Originally Posted by Nightshade
Some of us laugh
Some of us cry
Some of us smoke
Some of us lie
But it's all just the way
that we cope with our lives...
okk here we go and is that what that toilet smilie means? Well who knew?!
Well I for one admit that I had a tottaly different idea of what freezing balls off meant but apparantly this appears to come from same source. and this expresion I always presumed brass monkeys had somthing to do with india.oh well we live and learn. Sort of like Sweet FA not standing for what you might think at all but has a rather grisley child murder story behind itOriginally Posted by you ought to be able to guess by now
My mission in life is to make YOU smile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The time has come," the Walrus said,"To talk of many things:
Forum Rules- You know you want to read 'em
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|currently reading
I have no idea what the toliet smile means, I just found it hilarious! I, too, thought Oriential with the Brass monkey. Get our minds out of the gutter, right? The next pharaze is:
Where did we get "once in a blue moon?"
Some of us laugh
Some of us cry
Some of us smoke
Some of us lie
But it's all just the way
that we cope with our lives...
well seeing as Im at work without my trusty book
Ill just guess itll remind me to find out Blue moon ....humm bet its medieval in origin and somthing to do with the weather
FYI theres another book like the white elephant and red herring book out of course I have to buy it!
My mission in life is to make YOU smile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The time has come," the Walrus said,"To talk of many things:
Forum Rules- You know you want to read 'em
|Litnet Challange status = 5/260
|currently reading
Here ya go, straight from Uncle John Bathroom Reader Plunges *giggle* Into The Universe, page 320. "It refers to the second full moon within a month--a rare thing indeed. But over the course of a century there'll be 41 months with two full moons, so [once in a blue moon] really means--if you want to get literal--once every 2.4 years." How 'bout that, 'eh?Originally Posted by Nightshade
Next: Where did we get the expression: "It's raining cats and dogs?"
Some of us laugh
Some of us cry
Some of us smoke
Some of us lie
But it's all just the way
that we cope with our lives...
I believe we owe that one to Old MacDonalds (alas, he never gets credited for it).Next: Where did we get the expression: "It's raining cats and dogs?"
On a particularly gloomy afternoon, the old dear Mac Donalds looks outside his window to discover that it is pouring down. He turns around and says to his beloved cats and dogs (for he used to keep five of each at home) and says 'It is raining, Cats and Dogs!' His wife who happened to be in the kitchen at the time, overhears this and, being a woman of little education, she fails to appreciate the powers of punctuation and thinks that he said 'It is raining cats and dogs'. And next day, she spreads the word around in the town square that 'It rained cats and dogs yesterday' .
Last edited by Scheherazade; 09-28-2005 at 08:43 AM.
~
"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
Incorrect, Scheherazade, but here's a lovely pink elephant for you:Originally Posted by Scheherazade
Some of us laugh
Some of us cry
Some of us smoke
Some of us lie
But it's all just the way
that we cope with our lives...