Now You Know, Volume 4: The Book of Answers
About this ebook
Discover the fascinating histories behind people, places, and words:
WHY DO WE SAY THAT SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN TREATED BADLY HAS BEEN "HUNG OUT TO DRY"?
Discipline on early British sailing ships was necessary but often extreme. The cat-o’-nine-tails left sailors scarred for life, but keelhauling (tying a victim with a rope and pulling him under a ship) was feared most. If the prisoner survived, he was suspended from a yardarm where he was left hanging for a predetermined period of time.
WHY IS A MILITARY DINING HALL CALLED A "MESS"?
The term goes back to the Middle Ages, when British sailors began calling their meagre and often grub-infested meals a "mess." It evolved into meaning the general area where the sailors gathered to eat. Later it referred to a specific area where men gathered to eat, drink, and socialize.
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About the author
Doug Lennox is an internationally acclaimed broadcaster, a veteran character actor, a commercial voice artist, and now a bestselling author. He has appeared in more than 60 films and television features, including X-Men, Police Academy, Lonesome Dove, and Against the Ropes, and has shared screen time with Meg Ryan, Burt Reynolds, Holly Hunter, Charles Bronson, and many others.
