Thomas Moore email: TMooreSr@me.com Telephone: 801.791.9918
December 10, 2012
June 25, 2012
April 13, 2012
“COCKNEY”: ITS ORIGINS AND TALES
LONDON, THE BIOGRAPHY, by Peter Ackroyd
The origin of the word “COCKNEY” is COQUINA, the Latin term for cookery. London was once seen as a vast kitchen and “the place of plenty of good fare.” Eventually, the term became “cockaigne” or the fabled land of good eating. In one year 1725, London consumed 60,000 calves, 70,000 sheep and lambs, 187 swine, 52 suckling pigs as well as 14,750,000 mackerel…16,366,000 pounds of cheese. THE GREAT FIRE began in Pudding Lane and ended at Pie Corner, where the golden figure of the fat boy still occupies a site, he was once accompanied by an inscription noting “This boy is in memory put up of the late fire of London, occasioned by the sin of gluttony. 1666.” Pie Corner itself was known for its cook-shops and, in particular, its dressed pork. Shadwell writes of “meat dressed at Pie Corner by greasy scullions” while Jonson describes a hung man there “taking his meal” by sniffing the steam from the stalls. The steam of cooked eat drifted just a few yards from Smithfield, where he cooked flesh of the saints once also rose in smoke. A twenty-first century restaurant, beside Smithfield, offers spleen and tripe, pig’s head and veal hearts, as part of its menu. So, these days we have the word COCKNEY.
Interesting for sure.
Thomas Moore email: TMooreSr@me.com Telephone: 801.791.9918
February 24, 2012
DON’T CROSS THE LINE: A phrase with roots in the House of Commons
Merriweather Amhurst says that the expression DON’T CROSS THE LINE has its roots in the rules of the House of Commons. During debates, topics can stir feelings, sometimes anger. But, the members of the House during debate must not “cross the line” to prevent sword fights and fist fighting. Here are the lines!
Thomas Moore email: TMooreSr@me.com Telephone: 801.791.9918
December 14, 2011
November 15, 2011
HANGED, DRAWN, AND QUARTERED
It is 10:50 PM, and my daughter called to see if her son/my grandson Harrison was at our home. I said I hadn’t seen him. My daughter said: WHEN I FIND HIM, HE IS GOING TO BE HANGED, DRAWN, AND QUARTERED. Hm, I thought that was pretty tough punishment for a late arrival home for a boy 17 years old. ”Clamp down” would probably be a better option. But for Guy Fawkes and his cohorts, it was deserved in every regard. What an expression. Here’s the history.
Thomas Moore email: TMooreSr@me.com Telephone: 801.791.9918
September 28, 2011
CECIL BEATON WAS A CLEVER MAN — READ THESE!
Cecil Beaton, you and Noel Coward had a lot in common!
I am going to find a list of Winston Churchill’s quotes. Great fun.
Thomas Moore email: TMooreSr@me.com Telephone: 801.791.9918
