Comments on: Weird Richmond #2 – Premature Burials http://www.poemuseum.org/blog/weird-richmond-2-premature-burials/ Thu, 16 May 2013 15:18:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Melanie http://www.poemuseum.org/blog/weird-richmond-2-premature-burials/#comment-3808 Melanie Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:12:52 +0000 http://www.poemuseum.org/blog/?p=704#comment-3808 Actually, Joey that's a common misconception. According to <a href="http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/1500.asp" rel="nofollow">snopes.com</a>, "dead ringer" refers to an exact double rather than someone being buried alive. Here's more info on the origin of the phrase: <a href="http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/dead%20ringer.html" rel="nofollow">"dead ringer"</a> <a href="http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/1500.asp" rel="nofollow">"Saved by the bell" comes from 1930s boxing terminology rather than the practice of burying people in "safety coffins." </a> "Graveyard shift" doesn't quite work either, according to <a href="http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/graveyard-shift.html" rel="nofollow">phrases.org.uk</a>, this is the most plausible of the three phrases in terms of the notion of premature burial, but the phrase seems to have originated in the late 19th/20th century and here's no evidence at all that it had anything directly to do with watching over graveyards, merely that the shifts took place in the middle of the night, when the ambience was quiet and lonely. Actually, Joey that’s a common misconception. According to snopes.com, “dead ringer” refers to an exact double rather than someone being buried alive. Here’s more info on the origin of the phrase: “dead ringer”

“Saved by the bell” comes from 1930s boxing terminology rather than the practice of burying people in “safety coffins.”

“Graveyard shift” doesn’t quite work either, according to phrases.org.uk, this is the most plausible of the three phrases in terms of the notion of premature burial, but the phrase seems to have originated in the late 19th/20th century and here’s no evidence at all that it had anything directly to do with watching over graveyards, merely that the shifts took place in the middle of the night, when the ambience was quiet and lonely.

]]> By: Joey Tickle http://www.poemuseum.org/blog/weird-richmond-2-premature-burials/#comment-3804 Joey Tickle Sun, 04 Mar 2012 04:53:47 +0000 http://www.poemuseum.org/blog/?p=704#comment-3804 Yeah..that's where terms like 'Dead Ringer' and 'Grave Yard Shift' came from. Yeah..that’s where terms like ‘Dead Ringer’ and ‘Grave Yard Shift’ came from.

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