A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
Origin of Phrases - R
Ring Around The Rosy
Nobody knows for sure where it came from. The Black Plague of the 1600s is the most widely accepted origin of the song, with good reason. Most scholars explain the song this way:
Ring around the rosy - rosy refers to the rose-colored rash people developed.
A pocket full of posies - posies were herbs used to sweeten the air from the smell of death.
Atchoo, atchoo - these were the original words to the song, having been traced as far back as the 1800's.
We all fall down - I don't think I need to explain this one, do I?
Now for the other side of the argument. There are some scholars who disagree with the Plague reference simply because there are a great deal of records detailing how the Plague started, how it spread, what the symptoms were, how it disappeared, how many people died, and the way that people lived. Yet it wasn't until the 1800's, almost two centuries after the Plague, that the first reference of the song appeared.