Just a Peculiar Sandwich

 

The Answer is Within

If you replace the "W" in When, What and Where with a "T", you answer the question.

A What?

If you replace the "W" in When, What, and Where with "T", you answer the question.

Negative and positive Gender sexual Expressions

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Quick Guide to be a Londoner

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Who said English was Easy

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Peculiar Fish and Chips Shop

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Origin of the word "Vandal"

The Vandals were members of a Germanic tribe of that name, who raided a rash of Roman provinces during the 3rd and 4th centuries, before running amok in Galt at the beginning of the 5th century, and eventually sacking Rome in 455AD. The group caused so much damage that their name became a by-word for someone who purposely destroys public and private property.

Dangerous Language

Why the letter X means Kiss

In the Middle Ages, when few could write, the iliterate signed documents with a cross to denote their name. The cross was seen as a respectable mark for anyone to make because it was the Christian symbol. After a document had been signed, it was common to kiss the page it was writen on, to show it was being signed in good faith. At some point over the years, the kiss and the "X" became confused, and now we still sign off letters or text messages with an X to denote a kiss.

Peculiarities and Contradictions of English Language

Let's begin with box; the plural is boxes,
but the plural of ox is oxen, not oxes.
One fowl is a goose, and two are called geese,
yet the plural of moose is never called meese.


You may find a lone mouse or a house full of mice;
but the plural of house is houses, not hice.
The plural of man is always men,
but the plural of pan is never pen.


If I speak of a foot, and you show me two feet,
and I give you a book, would a pair be a beek?
If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
why shouldn't two booths be called beeth?


If the singular is this and the plural is these,
why the plural of kiss can never be keese?


And then we have the masculine pronouns: he, his, and him;
but imagine the feminine... she, shis, and shim.

Origin of "Well-heeled"

This term came into the language through sports gambling. To be more especific, from cock fighting. Cocks were sometimes made to wear tiny spurs of iron or brass on their heels so they could inflict more damage on other birds. A bird so equipped was said to be "well-heeled". The phrase died out in England when the sport was outlawed, but cropped up in the American Wild West, used to mean someone was well-armed. In the early 20th century the meaning shifted slightly again, to mean someone who had a lot of money, because money came to be known as an even more powerful weapon than any rifle or pistol.

Origing of "White Elephant"

This is the English expression for a gift that is more trouble that is worth, or an elaborate venture that proves fruitless.
In ancient Siam (modern Thailand), white elephants were sacred and could not be put to work. However, they had to be cared for by law because of their cultural significance. So it became the practice of Siamese kings to give white elephants to servants whom they were displeased whith it, because although was considered an honour on the surface to receive such a precious gift from the king, the servants were stuck with an elephant to feed that couldn't even be put to work.

Origin of "Villain"

In 14th century English, "villain" meant a peasant or labourer, and had not criminal connotation. However, because of suspicions that all criminals were low-born, and members of the labouring classes, gradually all criminals were labelled villains. The original meaning was lost over the years and nowadays, though we know those at the top of the economic spectrum are just as likely to break the law as anyone else, we still use the old word for peasant to mean criminal or widked person.

Crazy English Language

If the GH sound in Enough is pronounced "F", and the O in Women makes the short "I" sound, and the TI in Nation is pronounced "SH"...
Then the word "GHOTI" has to be pronounced just like "FISH"

Crazy English Language.

Origin of "Up to Scratch"

Boxing dates back to the 17th century. At the time, boxers  fought without gloves and util the knockout, and very often matches lasted too many hours.
Huge sums of money were wagered on these fights, and fighters were under enormous pressure to keep fighting, no matter how injured they became. This resulted in so many deaths that boxers protested, demanding some sort of rules were established to decide when the fight could be declared over. So it was agreed tha before each round, each fighter would have to come up to the "Scratch", a line scratched into the middle of the ring. I either of the two boxers couldn't stand on the line without toppling over, he was disqualified and the fight was over.
Nowadays, something that fails in some sort of quality control is still said not to come "up to scratch".

Origin of "Turn the Tables"

This is a gambling expression that arose from the idea that if someone was losing badly at a game such as bridge or draughts, they could, if their opponent was distracted, turn the table around so they were sitting at the strongest hand, or the side of the board with the most pieces. This was just a kind of joke, because it would be one of the most comically obvious ways to cheat.
The expression has changed slightly over the years, and now indicates an unsuspected but cunning switch of fates.

Origin of "Take a Rain Check"

"Rain checks" were originally issued to spectators when a sporting event was postponed for any reason, many times because of a very rainy day. The "Rain check" would allow them entry to the match when it was re-scheduled.
Since the 1950s the expression has been used as a way to politely decline an offer in the understanding that it will be taken up at a later date, if it's ever offered again.

-Would you like to come for dinner tonight?
- I can not, but I'll take a rain check on that.

Origin of "Giving Someone The Sack"

¿Why do we say we've been given the sack when we are fired from a job?.
This expression was first recorded in 17th century France. It is thought to date back to days when workmen carried their tools around from job to job in a bag (sac in French). When the job was finished they would have to pick up their bag an leave, hence the idea of being given the "sack".

Origin of "Third Degree"

If we are given the "third degree", we are interrogated fiercely. The association with interrogation is believed to come from masonic practice. In the 19th century, when the masons were still regarded as a powerful, illicit group, there were many rumours about their secret rituals. Part of the initiation to become a third degree master mason (one of the highest ranks in freemasonry), was rumoured to involve a long, intense interrogation, and by the start of the last century, the phrase "to be given the third degree" was already being used to describe a particularly brutal police interrogation.