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(1) Men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?
When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn mainly by only the rich, and since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons with the right hand through a buttonhole held by the left hand. However, because the wealthy women were dressed by their maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right, and that's where women's buttons have remained since.
(2) Ships and aircraft use 'mayday' as a call for help?
The French word m'aidez means “help me” which is pronounced & sounds like 'mayday'. Today’s Anglicized [Americanized] form of the French term m'aidez “help me” is ‘mayday’.
(3) The zero score in tennis is called 'love'?
In France where tennis first became popular, the zero on the scoreboard looked like an egg, and l'oeuf is the French term for 'the egg'. When tennis was introduced in the USA, Americans mispronounced l’oeuf as 'love'.
(4) The letter XXX on a letter’s complimentary ending or on an envelope’s sealed flap signify kisses?
During the Middle Ages, an illiterate person, who was unable to either read or write, signed a legal document by making an X mark on the signature line, and kissing the X, which represented an oath to fulfill obligations specified in the document. Since then, XOXOX became synonymous with hugs & kisses [i.e., the “O” symbolizing a hug or arms around in embrace, and the “X” for a kiss].
(5) Shifting responsibility to someone else is called “passing the buck”?
In card games, it was once customary to pass an item called a buck from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to shuffle and deal the cards. If a player did not want to assume the responsibility of shuffling/dealing, he would 'pass the buck' to the next player.
People clink glasses before drinking to a toast?
It used to be common for someone who tried to kill an enemy by offering the enemy a poisoned drink. To prove that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his drink into the host’s glass (or goblet), and which both then drank simultaneously. If/When a guest trusted his host (and vice versa), they merely touched or clinked glasses.
People in the public eye are said to be “in the limelight”?
In 1825, limelight was invented and used in lighthouses and theatres by burning a cylinder of lime which produced a brilliant light. In the theatre, a performer 'in the limelight' is the center of attention or attraction.
(8) Someone who is feeling great is “on cloud nine”?
Clouds are classified by number according to their altitude with nine being the highest. If someone is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.
(9) The golf term 'caddie' and how it originated?
Before Mary, the Queen of Scots, made her first visited to France when she still a young princess, King Louis of France learned that she loved to play the Scots-originated game of 'golf'. The French king had the first golf course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment. To make sure she was properly chaperoned and guarded while she played, Louis hired cadets [pronounced “ca-day” in French] from a military school to accompany her, which Mary really liked a lot, and when she returned to Scotland, she took the practice with her. The Scots changed the French pronunciation of cadet to caddie
Piggy banks are shaped like pigs?
Long ago, dishes and cookware in Europe were made of dense orange clay called 'pygg'. When people saved coins in jars made of this clay, the jars became known as 'pygg banks'. An English potter misunderstood the word, he made a container to resemble a pig, and the “fad” caught on.
And last but definitely not the least. . .WHY is Louis Armstrong nicknamed “Satchmo”?
A grandson of slaves, Louis Armstrong was born in a poor neighborhood in New Orleans known as the "Back of Town". His father abandoned the family when Louis was an infant. His mother became a prostitute, and Louis and his sister had to live with their maternal grandmother.
Early in life, his gift for music became evident. With three other kids, he sang in the streets of New Orleans, where they “earned coins for their performance” which people tossed on the pavement where they stood.
A family of Jewish-Lithuanian immigrants to the USA named Karnovsky, took interest on the then 7-year-old Louis. Initially giving 'work' around the house to help feed the hungry child, Louis was allowed to stay and sleep in the Jewish family's home where, for the first time in his life, he was treated with kindness, love and tenderness.
Mrs. Karnovsky often sang some Russian lullaby which Louis eventually learned and would sing with her. Later, he learned to sing and play several more Russian and Jewish songs.
Over time, Louis became the family’s “adopted son”. Since they acknowledged and truly admired his musical talent, the Karnovskys gave him money to buy his first musical instrument, as was the custom in majority, if not all, Jewish families.
The little black boy grew up, and in devotion to and memory of his beloved “adopted” family, all the way until the end of his life, he wore a Star of David because, as he himself often readily admitted and confessed, through the Karnovskys, he had learned “how to have a real life and determination".
Later, when he became a professional musician and composer, he also incorporated the Jewish melodies, which he had learned, into his own compositions, such as, St. James Infirmary and Go Down Moses.
Among many valuable gifts and skills which Louis Armstrong acquired from his adopted family is his ability to speak Yiddish fluently, and "Satchmo" is Yiddish for "big cheeks" -- one of Louis Armstrong’s famous physical trademarks, along with his broad, toothy smile and uniquely raspy voice, which many have heard, when he sang, What A Wonderful World! -Contribution
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