DIRT ROAD WONDER: I Have Always Loved Trivia

I have found my slot here at Mulligan Park. I am on a trivia team. I love reading trivia and some of those tid-bits of history that seem to have escaped the history books.

Here are a few that I hope are new to you.

Between Jacksonville and Mobile Bay there were a lot of little towns that were all nine miles apart during the 1800s. A lot of them don’t exist anymore. The nine miles was because cross ties were needed to build a railroad. They would have a sawmill to cut the ties and when the tracks caught up with the sawmill, they would move it another nine miles further down the line.

I thought being between the Devil and the deep blue sea had something to do with religion. I have learned that it is a term that sailors used on sailing ships. On each side of the ship was a board that was one piece of lumber that ran from the front to the back of the ship. The rest of the ship’s planking was shorter boards nailed into place. That long board was called the Devil and when a sailor was in the rigging of an old sailing ship and it was leaning in the wind, he was between the Devil and the deep blue sea. When sailors said they had the Devil to pay it meant they had to hang onto the side of the ship when they were caulking that long board.

If you walked up to a woman and called her a "bellybone", she would probably walk off in a huff because she would think she had been insulted. It is actually a compliment. It is an old English word that means a beautiful and intelligent woman.

During the Civil War, the shoes that were given to the soldiers were one kind. There were no right and left, so the soldiers had to wear them until they molded to their feet. The battle of Gettysburg is said to have started over shoes. The South had heard there was a warehouse of shoes there and when they went to get them, they ran into the Union army.

The original name of Richland, Georgia was “Box Ankle”. It seems that someone was getting off the train and when they stepped on the box, the conductor had placed on the ground to assist them, they turned their ankle.

The word shoddy comes from the Civil War. Some unscrupulous merchants sold the Union army some material for uniforms. It was made from recycled wool mixed with some other fibers and it literally came apart in the rain. That word has come down through the ages to mean something that is substandard and not well made.

There is a town in Georgia that was named Peacock. Some of the citizens didn’t like the name and wanted to change it. A man suggested the name Pavo and the town liked the name and voted to keep it. It was years later when the town folks learned that their town was still named Peacock…since Pavo is Latin for Peacock.

I always thought the word ‘boudoir’ meant a bedroom, but it really means to pout. That was the room in which the lady went to pout.

I love words and the little-known meaning of words. I love puns and limericks and all kinds of play on words. I hope I have shared some that you have not heard before.

‘Till next time keep on the sunny side. Gwynn0720@Comcast.net

DIRT ROAD WONDER: I Have Always Loved Trivia

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DIRT ROAD WONDER: I Have Always Loved Trivia

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CAT TALES: The Shredder

Guest Column: Planning To Be Heard

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