Posts Tagged ‘where did’
Question Asked: Where Did The Handshake Originate?
Yet another much debated topic for today’s question.
One theory is that the handshake originated in medieval times with the ettiguette of knights.
Another is that it originated with British nobles.
Yet another is that originated with Romans who clasped each other’s forearms to ensure his opponent wasn’t carrying a concealed weapon.
What all of these theories agree upon, however, is that the handshake predates written history, and it is thus impossible to “verify” its origins.
The earliest records of handshakes are in Egyptian hieroglyphics.
Question Asked: Where Did The Tradition Of Eating Turkey For Thanksgiving Come From?
Many believe that the origin dates back to the first Thanksgiving between the Pilgrims and Indians. It’s hard to find any hard facts online that support that theory.
Turkeys were fresh, affordable, and big enough to feed a crowd. Americans have long preferred large poultry for celebrations because the birds could be slaughtered without a huge economic sacrifice. Cows were more useful alive than dead, and commercial beef wasn’t widely available until the late 19th century. Chickens weren’t often cooked, because they were used to serve primarily to lay eggs. Venison would have been another option, especially during the 17th and 18th centuries, though it would have required you to hunt for your Thanksgiving meal. Ham wasn’t considered for special occasions. Eating turkey was also in keeping with British holiday customs that had been imported to the New World.
Among the big birds, turkey was ideal for a fall feast. Turkeys born in the spring would spend about seven months eating insects and worms on the farm, growing to about 10 pounds by Thanksgiving. Cost was an important factor for holiday shoppers, because people weren’t necessarily preparing just one meal; Thanksgiving was the time to bake meat and other types of pies that could last through the winter. Harriet Beecher Stowe, in Old-Town Folks, described making fruit pies at Thanksgiving “by forties and fifties and hundreds, and made of everything on the earth and under the earth.”
The actual act of eating turkey on a holiday, as a celebration, appears to date back to England, in 1540.
Question Asked: Where Did The Phrase ‘Tit For Tat’ Come From?
The phrase “tit for tat” is actually an adaptation of the original phrase “tip for tap”, which originated way back in the early 10th century, in Europe.
A tip was a shove, of sorts. When one man would “tip” another, he would shove another man.
A tap was a much harder hit. When one man would “tap” another, it was generally a form of punch.
The phrase is believed to have changed into “tit for tat” in the mid 16th century.
The definition, however, hasn’t changed. It still means some form of retaliation when someone does a wrong to you.
Question Asked: Where Did The Peace Symbol Originate?
Peace Symbol
The symbol shown to the right, is what we commonly refer to as a peace symbol. History reveals that it is based off of the log for a group called the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War, from Britain. Their logo was used primarily for the Nuclear Disarmament movement.
The symbol is actually made up of two letters in semaphore, which is sort of a code, using flags to create letters and symbols to spell out words. It was used to communicate from distances before there were radios.
The semaphore letters are an N, and D. The D is a straight up and down line. The N has your arms at 45 degree angles away from your body, forming the symbol in the middle of the circle. The ND together form initials for Nuclear Disarmament.
Hugh Brock, who is said to have first came up with the logo, says:
“I was in despair. Deep despair. I drew myself: the representative of an individual in despair, with hands palm outstretched outwards and downwards in the manner of Goya’s peasant before the firing squad. I formalised the drawing into a line and put a circle round it.”
The peace symbol first became known in the United States in 1958 when Albert Bigelow, a protester, sailed his small boat outfitted with a flag bearing the symbol into the vicinity of a nuclear test.