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The Kitchen Table

Phrase of the day 2/1

jim_1 (Zone 5B)

5 years ago

Up to snuff

Originally, this phrase meant “sharp, keen, wise, all knowing.” Presumably it got this meaning because a person who has just sniffed some snuff would have a brief sense of exhilaration and might feel that he was a lot brighter than other people. Gradually the term came to be applied more and more to a person’s physical condition. If you feel up to snuff nowadays, you feel that you’re in good shape, in normal good health.

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Comments (3)

sal 60 Hanzlik
5 years ago
good phrase
Jasdip
5 years ago

Personal hygiene left much room for improvement. As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would spread bee's wax over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman began to stare at another woman's face she was told, 'mind your own bee's wax.' Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term 'crack a smile'. In addition, when they sat too close to the fire, the wax would melt . . . Therefore, the expression 'losing face.'
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laceyvail 6A, WV
5 years ago
I suspect they were smallpox scars, not acne.

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