An old story relates that a medieval town under siege hung a goose from a tower, symbolizing the stupidity of the attackers.
The attackers were so enraged that they burned the town, thereby literally cooking the townspeople’s goose.
Category: Everyday
everyday life
Auguring is what augurs did in ancient Rome. These were official diviners whose function it was, not to foretell the future, but to divine whether the gods approved of a proposed undertaking, such as a military move. They did so by various means, among them observing the behavior of birds and examining the intestines of sacrificed animals. Nowadays, of course, when we use the extended senses of ‘indicate’ and ‘promise,’ auguring is done from other signs. The verb is often used with an adverb, such as ‘well,’ as in ‘high investment returns augured well for Paul’s early retirement.’ ‘Augur’ comes from Latin and is related to the Latin verb ‘augere,’ meaning ‘to increase.’ The exact nature of the connection between ‘augur’ and ‘augere’ is lost in obscurity, however.
Derived from one of the worst prisons in England: the Clink Prison. The Clink Prison was the home of some of the most unthinkable tortures in Medieval times.
In Medieval times, the peasants sometimes could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man ‘could bring home the bacon.’ They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and “chew the fat.”
It has been pointed out that this is not the right origin for this phrase.
(as stated on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chew_the_fat#Email_hoax)
Chauvin was a soldier in the French Army during Napoleon’s time. He was know as the most nationalistic soldier in the French army.
People began to associate his name with nationalism and patriotism.
The Americans later used the term to describe the snobby French who believed that their country was better than others.
It eventually was perverted to the meaning today.