The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

     

     There were many old phrases that I often heard as I was growing up in our Maritime home. I've always been curious as to their origin. 
     

     For example, "I'll just give this a lick and a promise," which means, "I'm in a hurry now, so a quick once over, with an intent to come back later and do it right." 
     

     I remember my parents, Harvey and Lena Estabrooks, using old phrases that they no doubt heard from generations before them.   

     

     "These have become obsolete, or, have even disappeared with the passing of time, which is too bad really, as some are quite appropriate and even humorous." 

— Beulah Eagles

I did a little research into the origin of some of them: 

     The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law, which, stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

"Feather in your cap." 

     Referred to accomplishing a goal... this, from years ago in wartime when warriors might receive a feather they would put in their cap for defeating an enemy.

"Mind your P's and Q's." 

     In English pubs, ale is ordered by the pints and quarts. So, in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and to settle down. It became the phrase, "mind your P's and Q's."

"Wet your whistle." 
     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 to whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

"The honeymoon."     

     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 "honeymonth" or, what we know today as the "honey moon."

"Goodnight, sleep tight." 

     In Shakespear'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. 

     That's where the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight" came from.      

     

     So, I've really tried to give this article more than, "just a lick and a promise." 

     

Did you know? 

     The sentence, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the alphabet. 

     It was  developed by Western Union to test telex twxcommunications.

—  beulah