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Usenet Posted 23 years ago
Usage
Turning bed sheets "Sides to middle"
Bedsheets (cotton ones, at least) tend to wear out where they're lain on. And this tended to be in the middle. (A tendency accentuated by the use of feather beds, which notoriously sagged in the middle, as the feathers settled and compacted ? I'm old enough to have seen a genuine domestic example!)
It was standard practice, for the lower social groups in Britain, for sheets thus worn to be cut (or ripped) up the middle, for the worn edge of each of the two pieces to be turned over, and the former outside edges sewn together.
I recall from childhood having lain on ?sides to middle' sheets (though the family was, so far as I no, under no economic constraint to create such horrors): it was unpleasant, soon stopped, and was never repeated. Lying on a sides-to-middle sheet is something like walking with a stone in one's shoe!
Now we have polyester ? and more per capita GDP ? so I suspect that ?sides to middle sheets' have gone the way of blacklead and the hansom cab.
It was standard practice, for the lower social groups in Britain, for sheets thus worn to be cut (or ripped) up the middle, for the worn edge of each of the two pieces to be turned over, and the former outside edges sewn together.
I recall from childhood having lain on ?sides to middle' sheets (though the family was, so far as I no, under no economic constraint to create such horrors): it was unpleasant, soon stopped, and was never repeated. Lying on a sides-to-middle sheet is something like walking with a stone in one's shoe!
Now we have polyester ? and more per capita GDP ? so I suspect that ?sides to middle sheets' have gone the way of blacklead and the hansom cab.
Top answer
(Email Removed) spake thus:=20 [nq:1]Bedsheets (cotton ones, at least) tend to wear out where they're lain on. And this tended to be in the ... [/nq] Well, yes.
- (Email Removed) spake thus:=20 [nq:1]Bedsheets (cotton ones, at least) tend to wear out where they're lain on.
- And this tended to be in the ...
- [/nq] Well, yes.
- We also used to heat our home with paraffin stoves.
- [nq:1]I recall from childhood having lain on =91sides to middle' sheets (though the family was, so far as I no, ...
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10 Answers
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(Email Removed) spake thus:=20
[nq:1]Bedsheets (cotton ones, at least) tend to wear out where they're lain on. And this tended to be in the ... in the middle, as the feathers settled and compacted =96 I'm old enough to have seen a genuine domestic example!)[/nq]
Me too (or is that "I also"?)
[nq:1]It was standard practice, for the lower social groups in Britain, for sheets thus worn to
[nq:1]Bedsheets (cotton ones, at least) tend to wear out where they're lain on. And this tended to be in the ... in the middle, as the feathers settled and compacted =96 I'm old enough to have seen a genuine domestic example!)[/nq]
Me too (or is that "I also"?)
[nq:1]It was standard practice, for the lower social groups in Britain, for sheets thus worn to
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In our last episode,
(Email Removed), the lovely and talented halcombe
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]I recall from childhood having lain on ?sides to middle' sheets (though the family was, so far as I no, ... stopped, and was never repeated. Lying on a sides-to-middle sheet is something like walking with a stone in one's shoe![/nq]
Sides-to-middle sheets! What luxury! We ha
(Email Removed), the lovely and talented halcombe
broadcast on alt.usage.english:
[nq:1]I recall from childhood having lain on ?sides to middle' sheets (though the family was, so far as I no, ... stopped, and was never repeated. Lying on a sides-to-middle sheet is something like walking with a stone in one's shoe![/nq]
Sides-to-middle sheets! What luxury! We ha
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[nq:2]I recall from childhood having lain on ?sides to middle' ... is something like walking with a stone in one's shoe![/nq]
[nq:1]Sides-to-middle sheets! What luxury! We had to staple leaves together.[/nq]
Staples! We would have given our right arms for staples. We had to boil a crude kind of glue from pine sap.
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
"it's the network..." "The Jou
[nq:1]Sides-to-middle sheets! What luxury! We had to staple leaves together.[/nq]
Staples! We would have given our right arms for staples. We had to boil a crude kind of glue from pine sap.
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
"it's the network..." "The Jou
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[nq:2]halcombe wrote Sides-to-middle sheets! What luxury! We had to staple leaves together.[/nq]
[nq:1]Staples! We would have given our right arms for staples. We had >toboil a crude kind of glue from pine sap.[/nq]
Well, at least you all had something to lie on. (Or do I mean "lie with regards to" in a couple of cases above?)
Maria Conlon
[nq:1]Staples! We would have given our right arms for staples. We had >toboil a crude kind of glue from pine sap.[/nq]
Well, at least you all had something to lie on. (Or do I mean "lie with regards to" in a couple of cases above?)
Maria Conlon
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[nq:2]Staples! We would have given our right arms for staples. We had >to[/nq]
[nq:1]boil a crude kind of glue from pine sap. Well, at least you all had something to lie on. (Or do I mean "lie with regards to" in a couple of cases above?)[/nq]
Well, don't just lie about lie about it!
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
[nq:1]boil a crude kind of glue from pine sap. Well, at least you all had something to lie on. (Or do I mean "lie with regards to" in a couple of cases above?)[/nq]
Well, don't just lie about lie about it!
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
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Down here, we don't cotton lie.
Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.
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Down here, we don't cotton lie.
Richard Maurer To reply, remove half
Sunnyvale, California of a homonym of a synonym for also.
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[nq:1]Me too (or is that "I also"?)[/nq]
No, just simple "me too". It is usually, I believe, thought of as elliptical for "That is so for me, too" or "Give some to me, too", or suchlike form as fits the context.
(I do understand that they query was, depending on your tastes in diction, jocose or jocular.)
Cordially,
Eric Walker
My opinions on English are available at
No, just simple "me too". It is usually, I believe, thought of as elliptical for "That is so for me, too" or "Give some to me, too", or suchlike form as fits the context.
(I do understand that they query was, depending on your tastes in diction, jocose or jocular.)
Cordially,
Eric Walker
My opinions on English are available at
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[nq:1]It was standard practice, for the lower social groups in Britain, for sheets thus worn to be cut (or ripped) ... to middle' sheets (though the family was, so far as I no, under no economic constraint to create such horrors[/nq]
Not just "lower social groups". During the 1939-45 War, and for some years afterwards, people in the UK needed official coupons as well as cash to buy textiles, w
Not just "lower social groups". During the 1939-45 War, and for some years afterwards, people in the UK needed official coupons as well as cash to buy textiles, w
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[nq:1]There was even a sort of slogan for housewives: "Make do and mend".[/nq]
Here in the USA, I heard "Use it up, wear it out; make it do or do without."
This was from people who had lived through The Great Depression (and, possibly, the hard times of the early 20th Century). I always felt it was good advice, and repeated the little verse to my own children when it seemed appropriate. On
Here in the USA, I heard "Use it up, wear it out; make it do or do without."
This was from people who had lived through The Great Depression (and, possibly, the hard times of the early 20th Century). I always felt it was good advice, and repeated the little verse to my own children when it seemed appropriate. On
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[nq:2]Me too (or is that "I also"?)[/nq]
[nq:1]No, just simple "me too". It is usually, I believe, thought of as elliptical for "That is so for me, ... as fits the context. (I do understand that they query was, depending on your tastes in diction, jocose or jocular.)[/nq]
This from someone who dislikes "It's me"! Surely it is elliptical for "I am old enough too" and certainly in other lang
[nq:1]No, just simple "me too". It is usually, I believe, thought of as elliptical for "That is so for me, ... as fits the context. (I do understand that they query was, depending on your tastes in diction, jocose or jocular.)[/nq]
This from someone who dislikes "It's me"! Surely it is elliptical for "I am old enough too" and certainly in other lang
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