Raining Cats and Dogs but saved by the bell!

On 21 March 2017 Rotarians were intrigued by one of their own number, Rtn David Thomas, as he shared with members the results of his research into some sayings that have carried through from the Middle Ages, but without anyone really remembering why. 

For instance, we are indebted to David to learn that "raining cats and dogs" really did refer to weather so bad it swept animals  off the roof of the house - where they were normally billeted - into the house itself.  "Saved by the bell" describes a situation where a 'corpse' that was actually still alive was able to pull a string from within the coffin and ring a bell to alert the church's sexton.

David had equally intriguing origins for "dirt poor", "threshold", "chew the fat" and many more everyday expressions that really did have a literal meaning in earlier times. 

President Mike Clutton thanked David for his most interesting talk.