Friday, February 03, 2012

Mila Chafu Za Wazungu


Mwanamke akijisaidia kwenye chombo chumbani kwake maiak ya 1700's
 Wadau, wazungu wanatuita sisi waafrika, wachafu, washenzi (savages). Lakini someni mila zao za hapo zamani za kale. Walikuwa wanaoga mara moja kwa mwaka, wanakojoa kwenye masufuria sebuleni, jikoni n.k. Duh!

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Where Did Piss Poor Come From?
NOW THIS IS A REAL EDUCATION

Us older people need to learn something new every day... Just to keep the grey matter tuned up.

Where did "Piss Poor" come from? Interesting history.

 * They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot.  And then once it was full it was taken and sold to the tannery... if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor".

 But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot...  They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be.

Here are some facts about the 1500's:

* Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in  May, And they still smelled pretty good by June.. However, since they were starting to smell, brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.  Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

* Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.  The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, Then  all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children.  Last of all the babies.  By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.  Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!"

* Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and  other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof.  When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.  Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs."

* There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.  This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings Could mess up your nice clean bed.  Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection.  That's how canopy beds came into existence.

*  The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.  Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would  get slippery In the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing.. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened  the door, It would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way.  Hence: a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

*In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.  Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables And did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers In the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day.  Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.  Hence the rhyme:  "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

* Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.  When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.  It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon."  They would cut off a little to share with guests And would all sit  around and chew the fat.

* Those with money had plates made of pewter.  Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or  so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

* Bread was divided according to status.. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle,  and guests got the top, or the upper crust. 

* Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky.  The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.  Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.  They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the  family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.  Hence the custom; "holding a wake."

*  England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people.  So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave.  When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had ben burying people alive.  So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.   Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the  graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, “saved by the bell" or was "considered a dead ringer."

 And that's the truth!

> Now, whoever said history was boring!!!

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting historical facts regarding influencing 'sayings' / adages. Re the infrequency of baths in the 'West' in the old days, the main reason was the freezing cold winters, and lack of facilities for warming up water for baths, as well as non-existence of central heating / radiators and heaters.

In the present day, with all the facilities available and the ease of which people can afford these facilities; be they sophisticated or primitive- there are clean human beings, as well as dirty human beings all over the world. It's not a race thing. Wachafu ni wachafu, na wasafi ni wasafi- depending on people's individual personal habits.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 6:30PM, okay they didn't take baths because it was cold in the winter, but then why didn't they take baths during the warmer summer months? Nasty is nasty!

Anonymous said...

Uchafu hauna kabila,lakini hawa jamaa wa huku Maghaibuni[Ulaya na hapa Marekani]ambako nnaishi wamezidi.Kazi yangu niya kusafiri wakati wote nimeshitushwa na nnaendelea kushitushwa katika rest areas katika barabara kuu, nnapo shuhudia mtu mzima anatoka namba 2[kunya]anatoaka bila hata ya kuosha mikono.Hii karne ya 21 na maji marekani siyo adimu licha ya matangazo vyooni ya kuhimiza kuosha mikono.Wadau tupunguze biashara ya kushikana mikono na hawa jamaa kwa usalama wetu hasa wakati huu wa baridi.Vijini kwetu kila nyumba ina choo na mtungi wa maji na kata na watu hamli mpaka mikono imeoshwa.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous above! People in Africa are perfect; and people in the West are evil and nasty through and through :)

Anonymous said...

Kwa wanaowatukuza wazungu, hii story lazima itawauma na kuwaudhi. Hivi mnajua mpaka karne hii mtu anaweza kukaa wiki nzima hajaoga? Anajifuta tu na handtowel mwilini anapaka perfume anaishia. Wakati mwingine unakutana na watoto wachafu utafikiri wako kijijini. Wengine humo ndani kuna makorokoro mpaka hujui analala wapi. Hii haimaanishi kuwa waafrika ni wasafi bali ni kuwa uchafu hauna rangi wala kabila. Mnaopenda kujisifia eti "mie mzungu bwana" mmekomajee!!

Toilet said...

Dada Chemi, niliwahi kuona sinema ambayo ilitokea miaka ya 1700's. Watu wanakula dining room, wageni kibao wako mezani wanakula. Hapo hapo kulikuwa na kipazia na vikopo. Wazungu wanajisaidia hapo hapo nyuma ya pazia watu wanaendelea kula!

Halafu Mfaransa aligudua perfume si kwa ajili ya kuficha body odor tu, bali walikuwa wanatia kwenye handkerchief. Wakifika sehemu harufu ni mbaya wananus hiyo handkerchief enye perfume. Walikuwa wanatuma mavi na mikojo kwenye madirisha. Halahala wewe mpita njia!

Anonymous said...

Nimekutana na wazungu wengi tu wasiooga wala kupiga mswaki, achilia mbali kubadilisha mavazi kila siku. As some of the contributors have rightly said above, hygiene has nothing to do with race.

Anonymous said...

Uchafu ni hulka ya mtu. Kuna Waafrika na Wazungu wasafi sana na upande mwingine kuna Waafrika na Wazungu wachafu sana. Kwa mfano, kuna jamaa mmoja ofisini kwetu ambaye nina hakika hajawahi kupiga mswaki tangu azaliwe. Jamaa pia anavaa nguo nzuri tu lakini cha ajabu hazifuliwi. Nadhani hata kuoga kwake ni matatizo. Angekuwa 'bachelor' ningeelewa lakini ana mke. Sasa huwa najiuliza inakuwaje mkewe amwache jamaa aje kazini kila siku bila kuoga wala kupiga mswaki huku akiwa amevaa nguo chafu. Sisi wengine baada ya kuoa wake zetu wanatupiga 'inspection' kama za shule au JKT kila asubuhi kuhakikisha hatuendi kazini wachafu.

Anonymous said...

Racism and race hate is not cool! Thought we'd all moved way ahead of that way of thinking. Let's not stoop so low.

Indeed, hygiene and cleanliness has nothing to do with race. The past is the past; and now is now. I've met dirty people in the west, as well as in poor developing countries. Conversely, I've met clean people in the west, as well as in poor developing countries.

Hygiene is an 'individual' thing, but not a 'race' thing. Let's stop generalizing, and propagating race hatred and racism.

Anonymous said...

Kuna wazungu wachafu, na
Kuna waafrika wachafu, pia

Kuna wazungu wasafi, na
Kuna waafrika wasafi, pia

Kwa ujumla:
Kuna wanadamu wachafu, na
Kuna wanadamu wasafi. Watu ni watu, ni watu, ni watu. Binadamu ni binadamu.

Tuwache mambo ya chuki na ubaguzi! Hakuna mtu asiyekuwa na kasoro.

Anonymous said...

Du, mambo bambam hapa.

Anonymous said...

Ni kweli wazungu wamesema waafrika wanatabia za kishenzi, lakini duh nao wana mila za kishenzi! Sasa walivyokuwa hawaogi mwaka mzima duh. Hiyo harufu!

Anonymous said...

Acheni ya zamani. Tuendelee mbele. Tutazame mbele. Chuki na dharau sio maendeleo.

Anonymous said...

Na waafrika jee? walikuwa wanaishi vipi miaka hiyo ya 1500's?

Anonymous said...

Kwa Anony 2:08PM - Hiyo 1500's wakati mzungu anaoga mara moja kwa mwaka, mwafrika anaoga mtoni, ziwani kila siku! Pia wakati mzungu anakunya kwenye makopo ndani ya nyumba zao mwafrika anakunya nje porini!

Anonymous said...

Wazungu walikuwa na mila chafu! Yaani wanaoga mara mooja kwa mwaka halafu wanachangia maji ya kuoga! Wa mwisho walikuwa hawatakati kabisa! DAH! Hiyo ni uchafu!

Anonymous said...

Ina maana miili yao ilikuwa imejaa wadudu pia kama chawa na fleas sawa na mbwa na wanayama wengine. Hiyo kali!

Anonymous said...

The first Queen Elizabeth only took three yes three baths in her entire life! And she lived to be old. Back them everyone smelled so it wasn't a big deal to have body odor! Yes, times have changed and are noses sre sensitized to body odor not masked by deodorants!

Anonymous said...

Jamani jamani ndugu- Acheni kashfa, chuki na ubaguzi. Kama mmoja anonymous hapo juu alivyonena, "Na waafrika jee? walikuwa wanaishi vipi miaka hiyo ya 1500's?"

Hakuna watu ambao in 'perfect' katika dunia yetu.