1. In the 1400s a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb.
Hence we have 'the rule of thumb.'
2. Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled 'Gentlemen Only...
Ladies Forbidden'... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
3. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David,
Hearts - Charlemagne,
Clubs -Alexander the Great,
Diamonds - Julius Caesar
4. In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... 'goodnight, sleep tight.'
5. It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink.
Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.
6. In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts...
So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.'
It's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'
7. Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service.
'Wet your whistle' is the phrase inspired by this practice.
8. In 1696, William III of England introduced a property tax that required those living in houses with more than six windows to pay a levy. In order to avoid the tax, house owners would brick up all windows except six. (The Window Tax lasted until 1851, and older houses with bricked-up windows are still a common sight in the U.K.) As the bricked-up windows prevented some rooms from receiving any sunlight, the tax was referred to as “daylight robbery”!
Now, there you have the origin of these phrases.
this is an article off the Internet about the US tennis open which starts on Monday!!
Players are entitled to two double or twin rooms, and sometimes a third - much to the relief of Canada's world number 17 Denis Shapovalov. He is in New York with his girlfriend Mirjam, mother Tessa and physio Nick Marchenko. Without the extra room, Mum and physio might have had to share.
Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic have opted to go private - and even for Djokovic, however nice the garden, it is "quite a significant investment".
"They must stay on the property, they can't go for walks, they can't go to cafes, and when they leave they let us know," Allaster explained in an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live.
"When they arrive, we know when they arrive - there are lots of apps that are being used. Those homes are monitored 24 hours."
Williams felt staying in one of the player hotels would be too big a risk at the current time, given her history of blood clots in the lungs.
"At my house, I can control more," the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion said.
"There is no housekeeping, there is none of that type of stuff. I have genuine health issues that I just really needed to put my mind at rest to even be able to perform in New York.
"I'm all for the extra protocols and the extra safety. I want to know where people are going. I want to make sure that we are all keeping ourselves in this giant bubble."
On site, at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre, competitors must wear face masks unless playing, practising or working out. Before they are allowed to board the shuttle bus from the hotel, they must fill in a health questionnaire and record a temperature below 38C.
Suites in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, which are usually brimming with hospitality guests, have been made available to the top 32 seeds, and then to lower-ranked players as the seeds begin to fall. But there may at times be a queue for the showers, as only 30 are allowed in the locker rooms at any one time.
Czech top seed Karolina Pliskova enjoys the view out onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium from the treatment table in her private player lounge
As for testing, players are confined to their rooms on arrival until a negative Covid test has been returned. A second one follows 48 hours later, and tests are then every four days - or seven if a player has returned a positive antibody result.
Physio Juan Galvan is the only person to have tested positive so far, forcing two players with whom he works into 14 days of self-isolation. Neither Argentina's Guido Pella nor Bolivia's Hugo Dellien shared a room with Galvan, but the New York City Department of Health deemed they had been in sufficiently close contact.
Players have generally been very complimentary about the environment the USTA has created. But the plight of these two has been their one major grievance. Both Djokovic and Andy Murray say they were told only players sharing a room with an infected person would be affected in this way.
Both Pella and Dellien are expected to compete next week, and their isolation has not been quite as restricted as might first appear. Both have been moved to a suite with an outdoor balcony, provided with extra fitness equipment, and even been allowed to leave the hotel to practise, wearing masks, goggles and gloves.
"We had doctors supervising all of those activities," Allaster explained.
"We found a private court that is isolated, so they are not mixing with anyone in the general public. They go from their hotel to this private court and then back into their rooms.
"Everything is on track that they will be able to play next week. The New York City Department of Health is working with us so that official period [of isolation] will end on Sunday night, so they are permitted to be able to play on Monday.
I am taking off on a little adventure tomorrow so stay tuned!!!
Stay safe and healthy!!
Yashi Kochi!!!
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