Some familiar sayings

We are Grand-dog sitting tonight, tomorrow AM Stella has a Soccer game. Around here we keep a busy schedule.  ha!

I ran across an old file I had saved that has some sayings I was familiar with, BUT did not know the origin.  The first one was a surprise to me, because I remember President Truman kept a plaque on his desk that said:

The Buck Stops here.

So #1 is:

1.  PASSING THE BUCK / THE BUCK STOPS HERE
Most men in the early west carried a jack knife made by the Buck knife company. When playing poker it was common to place one of these Buck knives in front of the dealer so that everyone knew who he was. When it was time for a new dealer the deck of cards and the knife were given to the new dealer. If this person didn't want to deal he would "pass the buck" to the next player. If that player accepted then "the buck stopped there".

(Note: I still carry a Buck Knife but seldom played cards)

#2… RIFF RAFF
The Mississippi River was the main way of traveling from north to south. Riverboats carried passengers and freight but they were expensive so most people used rafts. Everything had the right of way over rafts which were considered cheap. The steering oar on the rafts was called a "riff" and this transposed into riff-raff, meaning low class.

#3….COBWEB
The Old English word for "spider" was "cob".

(That one I was glad to learn)

#4…SHIP STATE ROOMS
Traveling by steamboat was considered the height of comfort. Passenger cabins on the boats were not numbered. Instead they were named after states. To this day cabins on ships are called staterooms.

(I didn’t know that and I have heard that term for years)

#5…SHOWBOAT
These were floating theaters built on a barge that was pushed by a steamboat. These played small town along the Mississippi River. Unlike the boat shown in the movie "Showboat" these did not have an engine. They were gaudy and attention grabbing which is why we say someone who is being the life of the party is "showboating".

(Showboating was a very familiar term around home I the 50’s)

#6 … OVER A BARREL
In the days before CPR a drowning victim would be placed face down over a barrel and the barrel would be rolled back and forth in a effort to empty the lungs of water. It was rarely effective. If you are over a barrel you are in deep trouble.

I sorta felt like I was ‘over a barrel’ for tonight’s blog entry, but I feel better now!

Nite Shipslog

 1928 Model A Ford.
I had a friend who thought he wanted an A model a few years ago. He bought on and kept it a couple months and sold it. He said, "I had forgotten how hard cars drove without power steering."