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Where'd that phrase come from? |
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| Registered: May 19, 2007 | Reputation:  |  Posts: 5,917 |
| | Posted: | | | | After reading some heated conversations about CLT and "Ken" and reading the phrase "blow smoke" a few times, here's where the phrase comes from.  Tobacco Smoke Enema (1750s-1810s)The tobacco enema was used to infuse tobacco smoke into a patient's rectum for various medical purposes, primarily the resuscitation of drowning victims. A rectal tube inserted into the anus was connected to a fumigator and bellows that forced the smoke towards the rectum. The warmth of the smoke was thought to promote respiration, but doubts about the credibility of tobacco enemas led to the popular phrase "blow smoke up one's arse." |
| | Registered: March 14, 2007 | Reputation:  |  Posts: 1,022 |
| | Posted: | | | | Wonder if you could blow smoke rings using this??  | | |  |
| | Registered: May 19, 2007 | | Reputation: | | Posts: 5,917 |
| | Posted: | | | | Be interesting to try!
Anybody else have any origins? |
| | Registered: March 13, 2007 | | Reputation: |  Posts: 3,436 |
| | Posted: | | | | Quoting richierich: Quote:
Wonder if you could blow smoke rings using this?? You mean the device, right? Right? Right? | | | Achim [諾亞信； Ya-Shin//Nuo], a German in Taiwan.
Registered: May 29, 2000 (at InterVocative) |
| | Registered: March 14, 2007 | | Reputation: | | Posts: 1,022 |
| | Posted: | | | | Mad as a Hatter.
Not just a reference to Alice in Wonderland; up until the 19th century, milliners used large amounts of mercury in their work. After years of exposure, the hatters would sometimes develop symptoms of mercury poisoning, including aggression, tremors, and unpredictable behavior. Even today, mercury poisoning is sometimes called “Mad Hatter’s disease.” | | | |
| | Registered: March 13, 2007 | | Reputation: | | Posts: 2,293 |
| | Posted: | | | | Quoting Dr. Killpatient: Quote:
Anybody else have any origins? Quite a few; the least well known I think is "losing your rag" which I'm told comes from WW II submarines where the captain would hang a rag from an overhead pipe so when he was looking through the periscope (in the almost pitch black) he could feel it touch his head when he reached the 'periscope facing forward' position. Some bright spark would occasionally remove the rag so the captian would lose all reference points becoming confused and angry. | | | | It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong |
| | Registered: March 13, 2007 | | Reputation: | | Posts: 2,394 |
| | Posted: | | | | The A Phrase a Week website is a good place to find out things like this. You can subscribe and receive a phrase a week (like the site says) usually each Friday. It's really interesting and has a large archive of phrases. It's based in the UK BTW. | | | Another Ken (not Ken Cole)
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DVD Profiler user since June 15, 2001 |
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Invelos Forums->General: General Discussion |
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