SpinnerBait_Nut
Honorary Moderator Emeritus
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2002
- Messages
- 17,651
"Face"<br /> <br />In the late 1700s, personal hygiene left much<br />room for improvement. As a result, many<br />women and men had developed acne scars<br />by adulthood. The women would spread bee's<br />wax over their facial skin to smooth out their<br />complexions. When they were speaking to<br />each other, if a woman began to stare at another<br />woman's face she was told "mind your own<br />bee's wax."<br /> <br />Should the woman smile, the wax would<br />crack, hence the term "crack a smile." Also,<br />when they sat too close to the fire, the wax<br />would melt and therefore the expression<br />"losing face."<br />_____________________________________________<br /><br />"Ps & Qs"<br /> <br />At local taverns, pubs and bars, people drank<br />from pint and quart sized containers. A bar<br />maid's job was to keep an eye on the customers<br />and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay<br />close attention and remember who was drinking<br />in "pints" and who was drinking in "quarts."<br /> <br />Hence the term "minding your "Ps and Qs."<br />_____________________________________________<br /><br />"Coins"<br /> <br />Did you ever wonder why dimes, quarters<br />and half dollars have notches, while pennies<br />and nickels do not?<br /> <br />The US Mint began putting notches on the<br />edges of coins containing gold and silver to<br />discourage holders from shaving off small<br />quantities of the precious metals. Dimes,<br />quarters and half dollars are notched because<br />they used to contain silver. Pennies and nickels<br />aren't notched because the metals they<br />contain are not valuable enough to shave.
