Things to Make You Go Hmmm! - Why do We Say Saved by the Bell?

• In the 1400's a law was passed in England which allowed a man to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb.   That is where the expression "rule of thumb" comes from. 
• In the Middle Ages, before the days of modern medicine, determining whether a person was actually dead or not was not an exact science.  As a consequence,  when graves were excavated for any reason such as re-use of the land, it was found that up to 25% of coffins had claw marks on them.  Due to this macabre fact, when a person was buried it became common practice to make a hole  in the coffin, a length of rope was pushed through, this was fed up to the surface before burial and  a bell would be attached to the outside end.  If the deceased was not actually deceased they would have the opportunity to ring the bell and be heard - and hopefully dug up.  Bit of a shame if you weren't very popular.  This is the basis for the expression "saved by the bell".
• Why do we say "it's raining cats and dogs". Many years ago when thatch was a popular form of roofing, houses were build with lower roofs and no ceiling.  The warmest area of the house was the thatched roof, which was where household pets and other animals would sleep.  During heavy rain, however, the thatch often became damp, thus, the inhabitants of the roof would jump out to find somewhere else to rest. Hence the above expression.