A little bit of history...

In George Washington's days, there were no cameras. One's image was
either sculpted or painted.
Some paintings of George Washington showed him standing behind a desk
with one arm behind his back while others
showed both legs and both arms. Prices charged by painters were not based
on how many people were to be painted,
but by how many limbs were to be painted. Arms and legs are 'limbs,'
therefore painting them would cost the buyer more.
Hence the expression, 'Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a leg.'

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As incredible as it sounds, men and women took baths only twice a year
(May and October)! Women kept their hair covered,
while men shaved their heads (because of lice and bugs) and wore wigs.
Wealthy men could afford good wigs made from wool.
They couldn't wash the wigs, so to clean them they would carve out a loaf
of bread, put the wig in the shell, and bake it for 30
minutes. The heat would make the wig big and fluffy, hence the term 'big
wig.' Today we often use the term 'here comes the
Big Wig' because someone appears to be or is powerful and wealthy.
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In the late 1700's, many houses consisted of a large room with only one
chair. Commonly, a long wide board folded down from the
wall, and was used for dining. The 'head of the household' always sat in
the chair while everyone else ate sitting on the floor.
Occasionally a guest, who was usually a man, would be invited to sit in
this chair during a meal. To sit in the chair meant
you were important and in charge. They called the one sitting in the chair
the 'chair man' Today in business, we use the expression or title
'Chairman' or 'Chairman of the Board.'
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Personal hygiene left much room for improvement. As a result, many women
and men had developed acne scars by adulthood.
The women would spread bee's wax over their facial skin to smooth out
their complexions. When they were speaking to each
other, if a woman began to stare at another woman's face she was told,
'mind your own bee's wax.' Should the woman smile, the wax
would crack, hence the term 'crack a smile' In addition, when they sat too
close to the fire, the wax would melt . . therefore, the
expression 'losing face.'
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Ladies wore corsets, which would lace up in the front. A proper and
dignified woman, as in 'straight laced'. . . wore a tightly tied lace.
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Common entertainment included playing cards. However, there was a tax
levied when purchasing playing cards but only applicable to the
'Ace of Spades.' To avoid paying the tax, people would purchase 51 cards
instead. Yet, since most games require 52 cards, these people were
thought to be stupid or dumb because they weren't 'playing with a full
deck.'
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Early politicians required feedback from the public to determine what the
people considered important. Since there were no telephones,
TV's or radios, the politicians sent their assistants to local taverns,
pubs, and bars. They were told to 'go sip some ale' and listen to
people's conversations and political concerns. Many assistants were
dispatched at different times. 'You go sip here' and 'You go sip there.'
The two words 'go sip' were eventually combined when referring to the
local opinion and, thus we have the term 'gossip.'
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At local taverns, pubs, and bars, people drank from pint and quart-sized
containers . A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on
the customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention
and remember who was drinking in 'pints' and who was drinking in
'quarts,' hence the term 'minding your 'P's and Q's.'

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One more: bet you didn't know this! In the heyday of sailing ships, all
war ships and many freighters carried iron cannons.
Those cannons fired round iron cannon balls. It was necessary to keep a
good supply near the cannon. However, how to
prevent them from rolling about the deck? The best storage method devised
was a square-based pyramid with one ball on top,
resting on four resting on nine, which rested on sixteen. Thus, a supply
of 30 cannon balls could be stacked in a small area right
next to the cannon. There was only one problem...how to prevent the bottom
layer from sliding or rolling from under the others.
The solution was a metal plate called a 'Monkey' with 16 round
indentations. However, if this plate were made of iron, the iron balls
would quickly rust to it. The solution to the rusting problem was to make
'Brass Monkeys.' Few landlubbers realize that brass contracts
much more and much faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the
temperature dropped too far, the brass indentations would
shrink so much that the iron cannonballs would come right off the monkey.
Thus, it was quite literally, 'Cold enough to freeze the balls
off a brass monkey.' (All this time, you thought that was an improper
expression, didn't you.)

Nice

Here's one that wasn't in the e-mail, but something me and Insolent read about a couple years ago:

A long, long time ago they used to tie a string to the big toe of a dead person, which went from the coffin to a bell outside of their grave. If they happened to accidently bury a living person, the person in the coffin would then wiggle their big toe, causing the bell to ring, at which point they would be dug back up and saved from a horrible death. Thus the term "Saved by the bell".

DHARMA-Miaka wrote:Here's one that wasn't in the e-mail, but something me and Insolent read about a couple years ago:

A long, long time ago they used to tie a string to the big toe of a dead person, which went from the coffin to a bell outside of their grave. If they happened to accidently bury a living person, the person in the coffin would then wiggle their big toe, causing the bell to ring, at which point they would be dug back up and saved from a horrible death. Thus the term "Saved by the bell".

Yep. Crystal and I saw that at Ripley's Believe it or not museum in Orlando. BTW: Spend your $20.00 on something else. That was so not worth it, but eating at OPA's is!!! lmao