Reasons for sayings.

QUOTE from Guideposts reader, Elly Derr, of Auburn, GA: "Those who judge us don't matter. Those who matter don't judge us."

I've been hearing the following sayings ever since I was a kid. I LEARNED today where they originated. Most came out of Europe in the 1500s.

"IT'S RAINING CATS AND DOGS." This saying started because most houses had straw roofs with no wood underneath. Cats and dogs would sit on the roof in cold weather. But if it rained, the roof became slippery and the cats and dogs would slide off.

Those people are "DIRT POOR." In Europe in the 1500s only the wealthy had floors made of something other than dirt, which resulted in the expression "dirt poor."

"THE GROOM CARRIED HIS NEW BRIDE OVER THE THRESHOLD." Rich people had slate floors. They put thresh on them when they got wet and slippery, but often the thresh would slip outside. So they placed a piece of wood at the entrance which became known as the "thresh hold."

DON'T THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATH WATER." In a tub of water, the man took the first bath, then his wife and children. The baby was last. Hence this expression.

(On my next post I will have some more.)

HUMOR for today.

Why is it that all of the instruments seeking intelligent life in the universe are pointed away from Earth?

How do the elderly know when they've been in the pool too long?