I'm going to debunk/explain these, since people have asked:
wannabenormal said:
"knock on wood"
In the days when people believed trees were inhabited by the fae folk (fairies, etc.), it was commonly believed that when someone said an equivalent to, "What's the worst that can happen?" especially with something specific (i.e., "At least it's not raining!"), the faeries would conspire to make the "wish" come true. When people still made all of their furniture out of wood, it was believed that the sprites of the forest came with it. Thus, to prevent the fairies from keeping any ideas in their heads, you would rap very sharply on the closest wood (the fairies that would have heard you the clearest) to knock the ideas out of their heads.
Now, it is simply an expression for good luck.
Sad in AZ said:
Go piss up a rope
I believe the idea here is that, while it might be an impressive trick (particularly if you're using the rope as a measuring device, as people used to do), all you're going to do is get yourself terribly messy in the end, i.e., you're doing something completely pointless and wasteful. Akin to "spitting in the wind."
whatdoto said:
"Well, for Pete's sake!"
'Pete' here is a euphemism/alteration of the word 'pity.' May also reference "Saint Peter" as an alternative to "God" or "Christ."
sisoon said:
'That sounds like ignorance gone to seed.'
When plants mature enough, they begin to seed. Thus, this is in reference to ignorance that has been left to cultivate and grow on its own.
purplejacket4 said:
"Colder than a witch's tit"
In the olden days, 'witches' were colloquial words for women who had either lost children or never had children (the entire human species were jerks, considering their basis of a good woman constituted children), so their teats were not warm from babes. Thus, cold.
"Best thing since sliced bread"
Bread used to be sold in whole loaves, so pre-slicing it was a novel idea. It saved a step at the dinner table, as well as making sure all the slices were approximately the same width.
painpaingoaway said:
'I'm fit to be tied'!
So angry that your only recourse to prevent damage would be to be restrained in a straitjacket.
'Don't cut off your nose to spite your face'
Interesting one here. It is believed that this one comes from the practice of Anglo-Saxon nuns who were about to be invaded by the "rape-happy" Norsemen. In order to keep their chastity, the nuns under St. Anna determined that they would make themselves as ugly and unappealing to the Norse as possible, and many nuns of the order did cut off their noses to make themselves appear hideously malformed.
'I swanny'
My own grandmother used to say "I'll swan to goodness!" In the South, it's used in place of 'swear,' since that's frowned upon. However, it is either a shortened form "s'wan" = "shall warrant," or it is a corruption of the English "I'll swoon," meaning to faint.
'Gonna take a whore's bath'
Under the belief that not smelling like your last patron assisted business, it was a simple scrub with a sponge in a basin and then a load of perfume.
EDIT: formatting
[This message edited by KBeguile at 2:06 PM, June 23rd (Sunday)]
