From: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org (seven-seas-digest) To: seven-seas-digest@smoe.org Subject: seven-seas-digest V2 #509 Reply-To: seven-seas@smoe.org Sender: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Precedence: bulk seven-seas-digest Wednesday, July 2 2003 Volume 02 : Number 509 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 21:57:55 +0100 From: "Noose Boy" Subject: RE: seven-seas WARNING ! - OTOTOTOTOTOTOT There's a great cider bus and stall at Glasto with lots of different kinds of cider on sale including hot spiced stuff. Can't drink it meself - -----Original Message----- From: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org [mailto:owner-seven-seas@smoe.org] On Behalf Of Amy Rupp Sent: 02 July 2003 21:22 To: seven-seas@smoe.org Subject: RE: seven-seas WARNING ! - OTOTOTOTOTOTOT > What's a slapper? > And, while I'm here, what the hell's a scrumpy? Some sorta drink, I > gather? Sounds weird. Scrumpy is a subset of hard apple cider. I'm completely paranoid about my email at work, so I've deleted the mail, but Matt sent me a couple of links on the bbc.co.uk website that explain it. In short -- it's hard apple cider made from more-or-less whole apples (not just fermenting apple juice) and usually left unfiltered, meaning it's cloudy and not clear. It also is *never* fizzy. It's unavailable here in the US, and only regionally available in the UK. I also found a website called "Scrumpy 'n' Western" that made me ROTFLMAO, because it's dedicated to Somerset (West Country) culture or lack thereof ;-) and features a couple of cartoon characters wearing dungarees and no shoes, as well as some novelty songs. You ought to know that Rob Roy is a Scottish phrase, and therefore is gonna have Scotch in it, but the recipe from barmeister.com looks *awful*: Rob Roy - 1 oz Scotch Whisky - 1 oz Italian Vermouth - 2 dash(es) Gum Syrup However, barmeister.com offers a cocktail-of-the-week email on Fridays so you can try a new one each week! :-P What the hell's GUM Syrup? Surely not eucalyptus. (Australian gum tree) Yours in OTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTO -- it's not "Kansas" anymore! Amy ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2003 17:08:49 -0400 From: "Chris Adams" Subject: RE: seven-seas WARNING ! - OTOTOTOTOTOTOT Thanks for the history lesson, Stu. I love that kind of stuff--the genesis of euphemisms/weird expressions: I always thought "blind drunk" referred to blackouts. Where, like, you're at the bar and then suddenly you find yourself, 8 hours later, still in a stupor on your couch, still in your clothes, and you have no idea how how got there. (That 8 hours being the 'blind' part, obviously.) Of course, this is all conjecture on my part. (Heh). Here are some more, courtesy of the 16th Century: Most people got married in June ("June Brides") because they took their yearly bath in May (once a year, due to the risk of catching the plague from the H2O) and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children-last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it - hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water." Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof-hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs." There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts And a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence. The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway-hence, a "thresh hold." In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while -hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old." Sometimes they 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." Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous. Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust." Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up - hence the custom of holding a "wake." England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night the ("graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer." Stu Bird Sent by: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org 02-Jul-2003 04:57 PM Please respond to seven-seas To: seven-seas@smoe.org cc: Subject: RE: seven-seas WARNING ! - OTOTOTOTOTOTOT If you've ever heard of the phrase "blind drunk", that evolves from scrumpy cider. When they crushed the apples no sugar or yeast was added and the mash was allowed to ferment naturally. However the pips of the apples produce minute traces of cyanide when fermented, and over a period of years of heavy drinking, the combined affects of this can damage eyesight... Stu Chris Adams wrote: Hey-- What's a slapper? And, while I'm here, what the hell's a scrumpy? Some sorta drink, I gather? Sounds weird. Thanks, - --Chris A. P.S. Speaking of drinks: had some sh1t called a "Rob Roy" last week. Most foul crap I've ever had in my mouth. And that's saying something. My recommendation: avoid like plague. "Noose Boy" Sent by: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org 02-Jul-2003 04:02 PM Please respond to seven-seas To: cc: Subject: RE: seven-seas WARNING ! - OTOTOTOTOTOTOT I am a total slapper - -----Original Message----- From: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org [mailto:owner-seven-seas@smoe.org] On Behalf Of looloo Sent: 28 June 2003 20:12 To: seven-seas@smoe.org Subject: seven-seas WARNING ! - OTOTOTOTOTOTOT Raj -- You Are A Tart !! ;-) looloo >>-----Original Message----- >>From:> Noose Boy >>Sent: 26 June 2003 00:19 ) >> >> >>They were indeed kisses, coupla drinks and I'm anyones ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== - --------------------------------- Want to chat instantly with your online friends? 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