Some explanations for various phrases and traditions:
WHY?
Why do men’s clothes have buttons on the right while women’s clothes have buttons on the left?
BECAUSE
BECAUSE
When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich. Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through holes on the left. Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid’s right! And that’s where women’s buttons have remained since.
WHY?
Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called ‘passing the buck’?
BECAUSE
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 deal. If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility of dealing, he would ‘pass the buck’ to the next player.
WHY?
Why is someone who is feeling great ‘on cloud nine’?
BECAUSE
BECAUSE
Types of clouds are numbered according to the altitudes they attain, with nine being the highest cloud. If someone is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.
WHY?
Why are many coin collection jar banks shaped like pigs?
BECAUSE
BECAUSE
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.’ When an English potter misunderstood the word, hemade a container that resembled a pig. And it caught on.
