| "Street" |
- borrowed into prehistoric West Germanic from latin
strata
, short for
via strata "paved road" - etymologically a street is a road the has been "spread" with paving stones. - made necessary with the advent of horse-drawn chariots and carts in ancient Rome - (you know what carriage wheels do in mud) |
| "Highway" | - probably derived from the Roman roads which stood 2m high |
| "Pavement" | - from Latin ( ' rammed floor ' ) |
| "Teamsters" Self-explanatory |
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| "I'll be there with bells on" | - inspired by the cheerful sound of the bells on horses pulling Conestoga wagons. |
| "Put on the feedbag " | - now slang for "eat" |
| "Carriage Trade" also self-explanatoryv |
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Did You Know?
- "Flogging a dead horse" -
Logic would interpret this as an image of futility that came off the farm as a dull-witted plowman tried to get extra work from his dead horse. Horsefeathers - it is, in fact, a nautical idiom. - seamen were paid an advance after signing on for a voyage - a period of time - called the "dead horse" - was the time at which they could draw no additional pay until the "dead horse" payment was worked off or "flogged." |
The 1768 Edition of Enclyclopaedia Britannica
has the following description of carriages (found under "Mechanics"): "The structure of wheel carriages is generally so well known, that it would be needless to describe them. And therefore, we shall only point out some inconveniencies arttending the common method of placing the wheels, and loading the waggons." To be continued.... |
