Where did we get that expression?

Where did we get the expression "mad as a Hatter"? :)

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.

thats what i was thinking that it has something to do with the profession

Me me me oh wow I have a book on this...

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Originally Posted by "Red herrings and White Elephants; The origins of the phrases we use everyday" By Albert Jack

Mad As A Hatteris a term used to describe unpredictable behaviour. In the Middle Ages making felt hats involved a highly toxic substance called mercurous nitrate.This acid was known to cause tremblingin some people, a little like the symptoms of Parkingson's Disease, and those who suffered the effects in this way were assumed mad or crazy. During the 17th century tales were told about a man called Robert Crab, an eccentric living in Chesham, who was easily identified because of his distinictive hat and was known to locals as 'the mad hatter. He apparently gave away all his wealth to the poor and lived his life eating anything he could find in the countryside, such as grass, berries and dock leaves. The phrase passed over int the English language in the 19 th Century thanks to Lewis Carroll and his novel Alice in Wonderland. In the story Carroll invented a mad hatter but he may have been inspired by a real-life figure.

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And this has got to be one of my longest posts ever
(after prievew ) or maybe not :D ....
ps this book is A-mazing :nod:

Very well done Nightshade! :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

You get a chorus line of dancing bug eyed yellow thingeys.
:brow: :brow:
Very industrious answer of precise origins!

Well done! I had hoped to catch a few with that one, but the egg is on my face! :blush: And there's your next phraze: Where did we get the phraze "you've got egg on your face"?

ohh guess what this is also in my book :D

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Originally Posted by red herrings and white elephants

To have Egg on your face implies a decsion or choice has been made which later turns out to be a mistake, leaving a person looking foolish. Some suggest this is a relativly new phrase and originates in America during the election campaigns of the 1960s and 1970s. At the time it was common for opponents of a candidate to throw eggs at them in order to make them look foolissh. there is however, strong evidence to suggest the Victorian theatres hold the origin. At the time, during the slapstick comedies of the era, the fall guy would usually have eggs broken on his forehead to make him look foolish, not unlike taking a custard pie in the face. Those crazy Victorians!

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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.
:D

*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 http://www.websmileys.com/sm/angels/teu26.gif

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Originally Posted by Nightshade

*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 http://www.websmileys.com/sm/angels/teu26.gif

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That one I don't have. BTW, nice smiley! Don't keep us in suspense!http://www.websmileys.com/sm/crazy/1092.gif

okk here we go and is that what that toilet smilie means? Well who knew?!

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Originally Posted by you ought to be able to guess by now

The guns on 18th centuary men-of- war ships needed gun-powder to fire them, this was stoed in a different part of the ship for saftey reasons. young boys, often orphans, who were small enough to slip through tight spaces, carried this powder along tiny passsages and galleys. Because of their agility the lads became known as "powder monkeys" and by association the brass traysused to hold cannonballsbecame known as brass monkeys.these trays had 16 cannonball-sized indentations that would form the base of a cannonball pyramid. Brass was used because the balls would not stick to or rust on brass as they did with iron, but the drawback was that brasscontracts much faster in cold weather than iron. this meant that on severely cold days the indentations holding the lower level of cannonballs would contract spilling the pyramid over the deck, hence "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey"

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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 it :)

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? :lol: The next pharaze is:
Where did we get "once in a blue moon?" http://www.websmileys.com/sm/aliens/hae36.gif

well seeing as Im at work without my trusty book :bawling:
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! :D

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Originally Posted by Nightshade

well seeing as Im at work without my trusty book :bawling:
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! :D

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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? http://www.websmileys.com/sm/dressed/bek040.gif

Next: Where did we get the expression: "It's raining cats and dogs?"

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Next: Where did we get the expression: "It's raining cats and dogs?"

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I believe we owe that one to Old MacDonalds (alas, he never gets credited for it).

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' .

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

I believe we owe that one to Old MacDonalds (alas, he never gets credited for it).

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' .

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Incorrect, Scheherazade, but here's a lovely pink elephant for you: http://www.websmileys.com/sm/animal/460.gif