The Wholesale Forums

[geosamm]

Just for fun.... old sayings and where they originated

3 square meals ??
On the fiddle ??
Swinging the lead ??
Let the cat out of the bag ??

Anyone know the answers ??

[hardwareheroes]

Never heard of swinging the lead - sorry can't help with the others.

What does it normally refer to?

[lighthousedirec]

3 square meals ??
On the fiddle ??
Swinging the lead ??
Let the cat out of the bag ??

All sayings from the Navy I'd guess.

Let the cat out of the bag would refer to the cat of 9 tails used for floggings, kept in a bag until punishment.

Swinging the lead taking depth settings in unknown shallow waters.

3 square meals I seem to remember old Navy ships had square plates.

On the fiddle, just a guess but entertainment time, most sailors used to sing accompanied by a fiddle, the saying has been corrupted to mean something else now.

Guesses but reckon most are Navy related.

Mentioned the on the fiddle one to my wife, it refers to strips of wood around Navy tables put there to stop plates falling off in rough weather, sailors would sometimes getting an unfair amount of food, which would spill onto the outer strips off their plates, hence on the fiddle.

We both had a trip around Nelsons flagship several years ago, the talk was very informative.

[geosamm]

all correct.... nearly
swinging the lead referred to a lead weight tied inside a monkeys fist knot and thrown forward of the ship with oddments at one fathom intervals pushed through the rope to measure the depth... often false readings were given to wreck the ship.
3 square meals refers to the square trays the sailors collected their food on which had a rim around the edge called a fiddle.... if the food taken was too much it would be on the fiddle.... and the offense would call for the cat being let out of the bag and a flogging took place.
I'll see if I can remember some more to pass the time.