The Story Behind The Expression ‘Crack A Smile’ And More

I got a great email this week that made me think about some of the expressions we use. I was surprised at the origin of some, so I thought I'd share the stories.

1. In the late 1700's and early 1800's, personal hygiene left a lot to be desired. Many people, in turn had acne scars all over their face. That wasn't acceptable for women, so they used bee's wax on their faces to smooth out the complexion. If one woman stared at another too long she was told to "mind your own bee's wax". Should a woman smile, the wax would crack; hence "crack a smile". And, this is funny, if a woman sat too close to the fire, the bee's wax would melt! Needless to say, it's where the expression "losing face" comes from.

2. Back in the old days, card games were a major form of entertainment, but their was a card tax! Yep! it was only on the Ace of Spades, though, so to avoid paying, people would by a deck of 51 cards (not taking the Ace of Spades). These people (who I think were clever as they could make their own) were thought of as stupid and that's how the term "not playing with a full deck" was born.

3. Back in George Washington's day, there were no cameras, so being sculpted or painted was the norm. Many paintings of Washington show at least one arm or all limbs. This signified he had money. Why? Because painting prices were not based on how many people were in it, but by how many limbs were painted! That, my friends is where "it'll cost you and arm and a leg" came from!

4. And now the most amusing story. When sailing and war ships were in their heyday, many carried iron cannons. Of course they fired round cannon balls. But how to prevent them rolling all over the deck? Hmmm. How about a metal plate called a "monkey"? It had 16 round indentations. But they couldn't be made of iron or the balls would rust. Along came brass monkeys! The only problem there was when the temperature dropped the brass would contract and the cannon balls would roll everywhere. Thus the saying "it's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey".  Not dirty. Sorry guys!