For the last week or so, I’ve been lighting a fire in the wood stove every morning as soon as I get up (read 4:00 a.m. here) to give the house a boost in heat. Within a couple of hours, I can usually raise the temperature in the living room by five or six degrees. Since the days have remained reasonably warm, I let the fire die out by mid-morning.
Naturally, the fires produce ashes,
which I must clean out from time to time. As I was doing so recently, I
recalled a phrase I’ve heard on occasion: “getting your ashes hauled.” Oddly
enough, the phrase is a euphemism for having sex. Curious about the origins of
such a bizarre expression, I consulted the interweb.
Apparently, the phrase “hauling
ashes” emerged in the early 20th century. By the 1920s and 1930s, it had become
popular in jazz and blues music, often used humorously or discreetly in song
lyrics. Over time, it became a colorful euphemism across broader American
slang, known for its playful, suggestive nature.
I’m posting a (not sexy) photograph
of ashes I’m about to haul away.
—Mitchell Hegman
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