Where does the term 'Geordies' come
from? One opinion is that the name was born in the Jacobite Rebellion
of 1745, when the Jacobites bypassed Newcastle, which, as well as
favouring the Hanoverian King George, was also a well-guarded garrison.
The Jacobites then said that Newcastle and the surrounding areas
were all "for George". Hence the name Geordies.
Another probable school of thought thinks the name originated from
the coal mines of Durham and Northumberland, for many poems and
songs written about and in the dialect of these two counties speak
of the "Geordie". The Oxford English Dictionary states
that the word has two meanings: a guinea (which had the figure of
St. George on it) and a pitman. Whilst the name was applicable to
coal-miners it later became applicable to Tynesiders in general.
The third possible origin is from George Stephenson, who in 1815
invented the miners' lamp. The Northumberland miners used this lamp
in preference to that invented by Sir Humphrey Davy at the same
time, and the lamp, and eventually, the miners themselves became
known as Geordies.
The last possible explanation also derives from George Stephenson.
In 1826, he gave evidence to a Parliamentary Commission on Railways
at which his blunt speech and dialect drew contemptuous sneers.
From that date, it is said that Londoners began to call the Keelmen
who carried coal from the Tyne to the Thames "Geordie".
More... |
| THE CLINK |
The name of a prison which was on Clink Street in the Southwark
area of London.
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| SON OF A GUN |
After sailors had crossed the Atlantic to the West Indies, they
would take the native women on board the ship and have their way with
them in between the cannons.
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| PATENT LEATHER |
After the Patten shoe which the young women wore in the buttery.
When the cream spilled on their shoes, the fat would tend to make
the leather shiny.
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| DONE TO A TURN |
Meat was roasted until cooked on an upright spit which had to
be turned by hand.
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| BEAT AROUND THE BUSH |
Game birds were scared out of their hiding places under bushes and
then killed.
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| CUT THROUGH THE RED TAPE |
Solicitors kept their clients papers in a file folder tied with
red ribbon to prevent the papers from falling out. Of course, when
they wanted to get at the papers, they would have to cut through the
red tape.
Note from Glenn Barry: I read that "red tape" came from
the Indian Administrative Service practice of tying files with tape,
these were moved by "Peons" by hand from office to office.
No senior person would move a file no matter how important because
of the caste system. Thus the uneducated lower caste would slow down
the movement of files, thus the files were tied up with red tape.
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| MINDING YOUR Ps & Qs |
Ale was served at local taverns out of a "tankard" ...
you were charged by the angle of your elbow ... half-way up... you
drank a pint, all the way up... you drank a quart. Since the Quart
cost so much more than the Pint, you were warned to "Mind your
Ps & Qs"
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| GETTING TANKED |
When you drank too much out of the above "tankard" you
were said to be "tanked" ... if you got so "tanked"
that you passed out, there was a chance that somebody might think
you had actually died. Since back then they didn't have experience
with taking pulses, they often buried people alive who were actually
in a drunken stupor or otherwise comatose
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| PITCHER |
A leather jug treated with tar pitch to help it hold its shape.
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| GETTING BOMBED |
A bombard is a leather jug which holds 8 pints or 4 quarts. A full
bombard of ale would make you drunk
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| WET YOUR WHISTLE |
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into
the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill,
they used to blow the whistle to get some service
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| TUMBLER & TIPSY |
Glasses were hand blown, thus flat bottomed glasses were difficult
to produce. Those with curved bottoms would tend to tumble over when
placed on the table, and too many tumblers of whiskey would make you
a little bit tipsy
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| DEAD RINGER |
After several coffins were excavated and found to have scratches
on the inside, morticians began the process of tying a string to the
finger of the corpse. If that person was alive and they pulled the
string, they were called a dead-ringer. This is also the origin of
the term Graveyard Shift. The person from the mortuary who was assigned
the task of sitting at the new grave sight to listen for the bell
to ring was said to be working the Graveyard Shift.
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| SAVED BY THE BELL |
When our ancestors realized that they were burying a great deal
of people before their time had actually come, they came up with a
solution. They tied a string onto the "dead" person's hand,
buried them, and tied the other end of the string to a bell and then
tied it to nearby tree branch. If the person revived enough to ring
the bell, their survivors would rush out and dig them up. Hence...
"saved by the bell"
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| THRESHOLD |
The raised door entrance held back the straw (called thresh) on
the floor
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| CHEW THE FAT |
A host would offer his guests a piece of bacon, which was stored
above the fireplace in the parlor, so they could chew the fat during
their visit
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| GETTING THE SHORT END OF THE STICK |
Candles were expensive to make, so often reeds were dipped in tallow
and burned instead. When visitors came, it was the custom for guests
to make their exit by the time the lights went out. Therefore, if
your host didn't want you to stay very long, he would give you a "short
stick."
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| BURNING THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS |
If they REALLY didn't want you to stay very long, they would light
"both ends" at the same time!
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| NOT FIT TO HOLD A CANDLE TO |
A menial household task was holding a candle for someone while they
completed some type of activity. Some people were not held in much
esteem, therefore they were "not fit to hold a candle to."
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| GETTING THE BUM'S RUSH |
A short rush, which would burn for a short time, would be used when
company came over rather late; when it burnt out, you would want to
see the hind end of your guests out the door
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| GIVING SOMEONE THE COLD SHOULDER |
When a guests would over stay their welcome as house guests, the
hosts would (instead of feeding them good, warm meals) give their
too-long staying guests the worst part of the animal, not warmed,
but the COLD SHOULDER
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| GETTING A SQUARE MEAL |
Your dinner plate was a square piece of wood with a "bowl"
carved out to hold your serving of the perpetual stew that was always
cooking over the fire. The kettle was never actually emptied and cleaned
out. New ingredients were simply added to the muck. You always took
your "square" with you when you went traveling
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| FROG IN YOUR THROAT |
Medieval physicians believed that the secretions of a frog could
cure a cough if they were coated on the throat of the patient. The
frog was placed in the mouth of the sufferer and remained there until
the physician decided that the treatment was complete
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| UPPER CRUST |
The bread was put, as a raw lump of dough, straight into the bread
oven. No bread tin, it just sits on the floor of the oven. The oven
is heated by the fire and is very hot at the bottom. When the bed
is done baking and taken out to cool, the base of the loaf is overcooked
black and also dirty. The top of the loaf is done just right, and
still clean. The bottom of the loaf is for the servants to eat, while
the upper crust is for the master of the house
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| EATING HUMBLE PIE |
Servants at "umble pie" which was made from deer waste
while their Master and his guests had the better cuts of meat
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| TURN THE TABLES |
Tables only had one finished side. The other side, less expensive
to make, was more rough. When the family was alone, they ate on the
rough side to keep the good side nice for company. When company came,
the whole top lifted off and was turned to its good side.
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| CLEAN YOUR PLATE BEFORE YOU HAVE DESSERT |
The square plate (above) was never washed either. After your daily
dose of stew, you wiped your plate clean with a piece of bread. Then
you flipped it over which provided a flat surface for your dessert
portion (if there was any, that is)
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| ROOM & BOARD |
An apprentice would journey to another village to learn more about
his craft (journeyman). There he would pay someone for his room, and
food for his board
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| RULE OF THUMB |
An old English law declared that a man could not beat his wife with
a stick any larger than the diameter of his thumb.
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| GETTING YOUR GOAT |
This apparently refers to an old English (Welsh?) belief that keeping
a goat in the barn would have a calming effect on the cows, hence
producing more milk. When one wanted to antagonize/terrorize one's
enemy, you would abscond with their goat rendering their milk cows
less- to non-productive
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| SAVING FACE OR LOSING FACE |
The noble ladies and gentlemen of the late 1700s wore much makeup
to impress each other. Since they rarely bathed, the makeup would
get thicker and thicker. If they sat too close to the heat of the
fireplace, the makeup would start to melt. If that happened, a servant
would move the screen in front of the fireplace to block the heat,
so they wouldn't "lose face."
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| MIND YOUR OWN BEESWAX |
This came from the days when smallpox was a regular disfigurement.
Fine ladies would fill in the pocks with beeswax. However when the
weather was very warm the wax might melt. But it was not the thing
to do for one lady to tell another that her makeup needed attention.
Hence the sharp rebuke to "mind your own beeswax!"
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| BABY'S HIGH CHAIR |
With holes in the seat (a.k.a. "drainage chair") During
the winter months, young babies were strapped into their chairs and
were never allowed to crawl around in the hay on the stone-cold floor.
They didn't wear any diapers of any sort. They sat in that chair all
day... and you know why there were holes in their chair!
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| SPRING CLEANING |
The layer of hay in the kitchen, was finally hauled out of the house
when the weather turned warm in the Spring.
BON(e)FIRE The discarded "bones" from winter meals were
piled outside and a bonefire would be set to get rid of them
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| SLEEP TIGHT |
The bed frames were strung with ropes on which straw mattresses
were placed. After some time the ropes would loosen and one of the
young men would pull them tight
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| STONE COLD |
Slate floors were often cold enough during the winter months that
any bare skin coming in contact with them would "stick".
The slate floors were covered with a layer of hay to provide some
warmth. The kitchen was the only room kept heated during the winter.
All of the family spent the day cooped up in this one room (often
10 kids or more)... also the family cats and dogs who served important
functions of "mousing," "garbage disposal," and
etc
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| GET OUT OF BED ON THE WRONG SIDE |
An old superstition said that it was bad luck to put the left foot
down when getting out of bed
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| TIE THE KNOT |
Tying the knot of the ropes in the marriage bed
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| HONEYMOON |
It was the accepted practice in Babylonia 4,000 years ago that for
a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law
with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because
their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey
month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon"
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| REASON FOR CANOPY BEDS |
Most English homes of old had "thatched" roofs. Canopies
were placed over the beds to keep bugs, mice, dirt, rain, etc. from
disturbing your sleep! Of course, I think I would want to stay awake
because I'd be so afraid of having to be "saved by the bell"!
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